People’s Artist Manh Tuan and the passion for cheo

For Manh Tuan, ‘Comedian King,’ the name that his audiences, friends and colleagues often dubbed him, is the most precious title.

When People’s Artist Manh Tuan recalls the experiences in his early days when he started learning cheo (popular opera), he always mentions his hard childhood in his home district of Tien Du, northern Bac Ninh province.

As the family was so poor, Manh Tuan had to work for a landlord in the commune. However, the little child at that time had a strong passion for cheo. He was never absent from any performance by a cheo troupe that sometimes came to the commune. Then, after each performance, he came home and practised till late at night.

At fourteen, he became a messenger for the soldiers when they came to liberate the commune and followed them when they left. He then took part in various army art troupes.

In 1952, he became a member of Viet Bac Central Art Ensemble, specialising in stage properties.

In 1955-1956, when he was a drummer at the Central Cheo Ensemble, the ensemble practised a play entitled ‘Tam Dien’ and found no one to act the role of Muoi, an honest and jolly farmer. Manh Tuan was asked to take the role and he was so successful that, since then, he became a professional cheo actor. Many of Manh Tuan’s roles have become models for cheo actors: such as four roles in Quan Am Thi Kinh (Mr Mang, the fortune-teller, the high-ranking bonze and the village mayor), the jolly farmer in ‘Con trau hai nha’ or the comedian in ‘Suy Van’ and ‘Luu Binh-Duong Le.’

For Manh Tuan, ‘Comedian King,’ the name that his audiences, friends and colleagues often dubbed him, is the most precious title.

Manh Tuan is also an enthusiastic teacher who has made a considerable contribution to educating famous generations of cheo actors and actresses including Hai Diep, Xuan Hinh, Quoc Truong, Manh Tuong and Van Hoi.

Manh Tuan has always understood that cheo is a precious traditional art that the ancestors left, Manh Tuan has a passion for the role of the comedian, a typical role in cheo. Small and vivacious, with a unique expression of his face and voice, People’s Artist Manh Tuan has always won applause from his audience. Manh Tuan has also acted in many films and taken part in TV entertainment programmes.

People’s Artist Manh Tuan is entering the age of seventy but he has never stopped his job. He still devotes his life to performing, staging, writing books and teaching cheo.

By NGUYEN PHUONG