The National Cai Luong Festival 2009 will open on November 17 at the Tran Hung Dao Theatre, 136 Tran Hung Dao, District 1, HCM City.

Twenty-four cai luong drama troupes, including 7 from the north and 17 from the south, will take part in the event, performing 27 dramas. These are the works developed between 2007 and 2009 but have never shown in any festival or competition.

The festival, from November 17 to December 1, will open with a drama entitled “Imperial City in Big Waves” from the Vietnam Cai Luong Theatre.

Most of the dramas were arranged in 2009, except for two works by the Hanoi Cai Luong Theatre and one by the Thai Binh Cai Luong Theatre, which were introduced for the first time in 2007 and 2008.

There are three private troupes joining the festival, including the “Lighting Belief” troupe, 5B Experimental Cai Luong Troupe and Hoang Anh Tu Service Trade Company, all from HCM City.

Cai luong is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, hat tuong (a classical theatre form based on Chinese opera), and modern spoken drama.

It originated in Southern Vietnam in the early 20th century, and blossomed in the 1930s as a theatre of the middle class during the country’s French colonial period. Cai luong is now promoted as a national theatrical form.

VietNamNet/VnMedia