A ROSE ON STAGE: A TRIBUTE TO SOUTH VIETNAM'S MODERN DRAMATIC ART, THE ACTOR TAM PHAN AND ALL HIS COLLEAGUES OF PRE-1975 ERA

A tribute to the performing arts of South Vietnam: Vietnamese drama (kich noi) pre-1975:

Those who were raised there to young adulthood (at least) probably can't forget Le Tuan, Bich Thuy, Vu Duc Duy, Le Cung Bac, Tam Phan, Vu Huyen, Kieu Hanh, Hoang Anh Tuan (??? I don't trust my memory of this tall, lean actor who spoke with a pure northern accent --I was too young), even Tham Thuy Hang, Hung Cuong, La Thoai Tan, Tuy Hong, Thanh Lan (although I did not put them in the same genre as the first group I mentioned (reasons to be explored elsewhere). In the terminology of the dramatic art, these names were the players, as opposed to "playwrights." But Vu Duc Duy (and Le Tuan, I recently found out) encompassed both: actor and writer combined.

As you might know already, the first career contemplated for me by my beloved, progressive mother (a teacher of Vietnamese literature) was for me to become a dramatic actress. In America, I did pursue it, off and on, but not as a career that provided me the podium in life).

Globally, drama has always been hand-in-hand with the creative literature. In fact, it is part of the creative literature. No doubt this has always been the world of art, and not commercial entertainment. From the inception and throughout the development of human history, drama has often been combined with poetry and/or music (Homer, Shakespeare, the Italian opera, etc. Specifically, in Vietnam: epic Truyen Kieu, Cheo Co, Hat Boi (a derivative of the Chinese classical opera), more recently (the later part of the 20th century: san khau cai luong).

"Opera" -- the telling of stories in the form of music -- was actually the inception of musical theater as an art form, designed to attract the general public, whereas music in its pure form was for the aristocracy. The stage's natural appeal to the general public is the reason why "opera" in Vietnam (cheo co and cai luong) has evolved into a form of entertainment for the common people, except for something unique to Vietnam called "kich tho" (a combination of music, drama, and poetry, of which drama and poetry combined are a product of the learned literature). The musical element of cheo co and cai luong in Vietnam has evolved into folk art (van hoa dan gian). The musical element of kich tho in the form of melodic poetry recital in Vietnam, to date, remains unexplored.

Where story-telling is a cerebral creation by the learned population of society (nghe thuat bac hoc) deprived of the musical element, stage work with dialogues has been born (kich noi, thoai kich), starting with European playwrights such as Pierre Corneille, Moliere, Anton Chekhov, Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde (later on, Jean Paul Sartre, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, William Inge, etc.). The art was imported into Vietnam during the 20th century via French colonialism and the Vietnam War.

In Italy, the story-telling "opera" has remained part of the world's treasure of classical music although classical opera has continuously been performed as narrative stage work, part of the modern world .

In any of these forms, the essence is "drama" -- the art of story-telling, the capturing of the human experience on a platform of communication and no longer just the written words. To be precise, stage work -- the creative enactment or reenactment of the human experience on a platform for communication to a physical audience -- consists of two branches: comedy (Moliere, Wilde, etc.) and tragedy or drama (other playwrights).

In sum, the genre of art called "drama" has existed since the time of ancient Greece. Today, it remains, in my opinion, present in ALL forms of performing arts. (This is the main reason why Maria Callas, a Greek-American singer, has become the 20th century's diva and she continues to live on, even if her voice was deemed imperfect by some, or many -- she was perfection of the imperfect. She earns her immortal place because, among other things, she was the only singer who had used her voice and the totality of expressions (facial, whole body, specific gestures, eyes, spacial movement, you name them all) to capture entirely in herself the whole element of "drama" in the Italian (and otherwise) tradition of music. She rejuvenated a long, almost lost, art: the drama aspect of the "bel canto" stage. She brought the Italian "bel canto" operatic art to the 20th century and a modern audience, at a rate and level that was considered "superhuman" by musicians the world over. She adhered so perfectly to the mandates of the original musical score sheets, yet, at the same time, freed the traditional art from all rigidity by giving it a new life. She even transformed herself from duckling to swan to render magnetic glamour to the little-understood, sleep-inducing classical opera. Before and after her, no other classical singer has been able to do this. She became a miracle in our collective memory.

The above is only a summary of drama for background. Back to what i want to do now.

The tribute I want to make for South Vietnam's dramatic art in the form of thoai kich is not in the explanation above, but instead in the addition I made to my small artwork, below. I had begun to draw this quickie art while having a FB conversation with South Vietnamese actor Le Tuan (who, incidentally, had compiled at least around 18 credit lines in American movies after 1975).

Initially, on my quickie painting, there emerged a rose on a stage. Just a rose as centerpiece.

Then on FB I began to inquire about my favorite South Vietnamese actor Tam Phan. Next, I received a youtube clip of Tam Phan's interview during his visit to Vietnam after 1975 (like many of his colleagues, Tam Phan and his family were boat people.)

In the interview, TP talked about why he ended up in Australia instead of America -- a matter of conscious preference. (chu trinh con mot chut nay, chang cam cho vung lai day cho tan?)

Guess what? He also talked about his "gigantic" nose (his signature "good looks," making him self-conscious -- BTW, I have looked at old pictures of Le Tuan and Vu Huyen and found them appropriate to be cast as Kim Trong! But Tam Phan's "good looks" could qualify him as pirate, robber, prisoner under hunt like Papillon, Tan Thuy Hoang, Lo Tri Tham, Tran Thu Do, and even...Aristotle Socrates Onassis "pho'ng ta'c" into a Vietnamese character! At the same time, he could be the righteous father figure, head of a Vietnamese household, the earthy farmer on the wet rice paddies of north Vietnam, or the passionate reformed bandit, hopelessly in love yet refrained from the possession of his love for a decade in a "pact of two" silent code of honor, longing and restraining everyday, until Nghiem Xuan Hong's 10th traveller showed up and the honor of the bandit in love was tragically tested in a matter of life and death!).

In the interview that took place on the streets of his former home, Tam Phan also talked about how all his life, despite his "mui lan," an astrological sign of prosperity, he had never gathered financial wealth!

In such a short and barebone interview, Tam Phan's intellectual honesty -- symbolized by the unpretentious authenticity of his mui lan and his talking about it so frankly -- was the integrity of the artist's heart, that fragrant rose on stage, among farce, among the fragility of life, and of STAGE!

I must note that neither Le Tuan, nor Vu Huyen, nor Tam Phan nor Bich Thuy -- the jewels of the embryonic Vietnamese modern dramatic art-- has ever appeared on commercial Thuy Nga and the likes, after 1975!

I think that among pre-1975 South Vietnam's stars and performing artists, the country was blessed with the perfect beauty of Tham Thuy Hang, the natural expressiveness of Thanh Nga, who lit up the silver and TV screens. But such beauty wasn't enough. One must mention certain intellectual talents on the embryonic Vietnamese modern stage. By "intellect," I don't mean to say their... Ph.D.s, but the thoughtful, yet natural and genuine cerebral quality that they brought to their "metier" -- their chosen profession, a crucial necessity for a true dramatic artist. Without it, one remains an entertainer, on a stage for hire, no more no less.

After seeing Tam Phan's interview, I went back to my quickie art, and intuitively sketched around the rose a clown's face -- the 'farce' element of drama, the global symbol of the dramatic art. I then stepped back and looked at my quickie art again...I recognized, for the first time, with astonishment, that the rose on my stage had become a symbol of Tam Phan's endearing m̃ui lân, in the middle of the clown's face!

Here it is, to you, South Vietnam's unforgettable, irreplaceable Tam Phan, and all of you who have made the 'fleeting moment" of the South Vietnamese dramatic art become eternity, via poignant, undying memory.

[I would be grateful if someone would forward this to Kich Si Tam Phan (even with a rough translation if he needs it; I don't know if he does or not, but unfortunately I no longer have the luxury of time to compose this in Vietnamese. Please forgive me for having to resort to the international language of English, which to me is much more time-efficient: fewer words, fewer typing strokes, with an abundance of precise meanings].

It pains me so much that my parents can no longer read what i write, about their world.

DNN copyright Aug 2017