A generally disappointing venture

A scene at the circus show Xin Chao! in September 23 Park in HCMC’s District 1 - Photo: The organizers

I am a fan of circuses, and the more traditional they are the better I like them. But Xin Chao!, though staged in the circus tent in Saigon’s September 23 Park on Pham Ngu Lao Street, is not a circus, but rather a pageant representing two episodes in Vietnam’s history plus an epilogue, all told in mime together with would-be-elegant costumes and lighting. There’s plenty of sound and fury, but in the end it doesn’t signify very much.

This show is neither a circus nor anything interestingly different. On the one hand you’re not going to learn much Vietnamese history from Xin Chao!, and on the other the thrills and splendour of the old circus are amost entirely absent. Various circus acts are incorporated to liven up what turns out to be a brief story (only Vietnam’s mythic origins and the ancient struggle with China are featured), but the music is unmemorable, whereas it’s the vibrant popular music that drives a traditional circus. Missing too is the circus’s sense of timing, and its characteristic panache.

 It might be argued that, with harmonised costumes and lighting, this show adds an artistic dimension to the old routines. But it’s pointless to try to incorporate a sense of beauty into the genre because circuses are beautiful already, as the works of many old painters (such as Picasso) testify. And acrobats are the purest form of theatre there is.

 Under a hundred patrons were present at Sunday’s performance, most of them foreigners. Indeed, the short last section of the show, supposedly representing Vietnam on Tuesday, could only be received with derision by any contemporary Vietnamese.

 More attractive, because more authentic, is the animal-based circus from Hanoi that shares the venue over the Tet period. Only small animals are used (though there is a sleepy crocodile and a rather large snake), and the truth is that this is primarily a show for children. But the many children present when I attended responded to the event with clearly genuine, and extremely vocal, enthusiasm.

 The prices for the two shows are very different - VND80,000 for the Hanoi circus and VND400,000 for Xin Chao! I could find no explanation for the difference except for the fact that more performers are involved in the latter. Neither of the shows, incidentally, is as enjoyable as that of the resident company, the excellent HCMC Circus, currently taking a break from its home turf.

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Mixed reactions to Xin Chao! show

A scene from the cultural show Xin Chao! at September 23 Park in HCMC’s District 1 - Photo: The organizers

The premier of the cultural show Xin Chao! performed to a packed house on Friday at the Circus Tent, 2 Pham Ngu Lao Street in HCMC’s District 1.

The show that attracted both local and foreign audiences received mixed reviews from media both before and after the event.

The program, created and directed by Laura Burke, is a combination of circus, dance, martial arts, telling stories from Vietnamese history.

For any of the audience that was expecting performances of the caliber of Cirque du Soleil, they walked away disappointed. According to Tuoi Tre newspaper, the much anticipated show did not live up to the audiences’ expectations. The storyline, performed by 50 performers and some of the country’s top acrobats, martial artists and traditional/contemporary dancers, was too difficult to understand for the foreign audience, and even the Vietnamese in the stands couldn’t work out what was happening, despite the explanation in the brochure.

The review in the national paper, Tuoi Tre,  was critical of the way that characters such as Au Co and Lac Long Quan were portrayed in modern costumes using modern ways of speaking, and the scenes were far too short for the audience to understand the legend, in which Lac Long Quan and Au Co were father and mother of Vietnamese people.

Laura Burke, who has 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry and eight years in Vietnam, said the scene was meant to be brief as most tourists here already know a lot about Vietnamese culture. She also said she would add more information to the brochures to make it clearer.

The review in Thanh Nien newspaper, however, was very positive saying the show was ‘just for fun’ with lots of action and color to create the legend of Lac Long Quan and Au Co in act one. The second act showed the grit and courage of the Vietnamese women by telling the story of the Trung sisters who led an uprising in 39 AD. The sisters’ rebellion is known by almost every Vietnamese. Thanh Nien said the third act presented modern Vietnam as a young and dynamic nation. 

Saigon Tiep Thi was neutral in its comments of Xin Chao!, just saying that the show was another addition to the city’s tourism products and nighttime entertainment options. The paper quoted Augustus Greaves, co-producer with Burke for the program, saying that the show is one of must-see cultural events for foreign tourists to HCMC that is both entertaining and educational.

Whether good or bad the show represents a great effort by troupe and the American director who loves Vietnamese culture and history enough to want to introduce it to foreigners. Tourists get another venue to visit and learn more about their host country while they are there.

According to the reviews, the organizers had described the production as the same genre as Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian circus show that has enjoyed a global following with popular shows in Japan and Macau; Voyage de la Vie in Singapore and Siam Niramit Cultural Show in Bangkok, but it is not at that level at this stage.

Xin Chao! will be performed daily at September 23 Park at 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday and at 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission includes a brochure with a brief description of the program in four languages - Vietnamese, French, Japanese and English.

For more information, contact (08) 3920 7990, web: www.xinchaosaigon.com.

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