A Ben Abroad: Saigon Sights: À Ố Show at the Saigon Opera House

Wow, finally... a post about the theatre! A fitting choice for my 100th (!) post!

Theatre's usually a dress-up time for me - the closest thing I could manage after 12 hours in my work clothes was jeans and a snazzy bow-tie (I have LITERALLY been waiting since I got to Vietnam to pull out the bow-tie!!), but I shouldn't have worried. The house was packed with expats and visiting tourists in casual duds.

The visitors were there with good reason. The À Ố Show currently in residence at the Saigon Opera House brags that it's changing the guidebooks, and they're pretty much right on the money. That is no undeserved brag, my friends. This is an honest-to-god piece of art, and I enjoyed every second of it. If I hadn't seen it's artistic antecedents several times in America (Cirque du Soleil, you've gone and had a love child with Vietnam, didn't you?) I would have had absolutely no idea where this came from.

As it turns out, the show was a blast. My inner theatre professional thought it was practically perfect in every way - funny, moving, beautiful, well-designed, well-choreographed and executed, thoughtfully-conceived, and an all around pleasure!

Click through for pics, the Opera House, and my thoughts...

Showtime was weirdly early: 6pm. This
is the front entrance of the Saigon Opera
House (Municipal Theatre). Fairly magnificent!

I'll admit that I came in with low expectations. I mean, this is Vietnam - it's not like there are a ton of enduring cultural institutions here, even in HCMC. Apparently all that stuff is in Hanoi. Kasia and I had gotten cheap tickets (about $25 USD) but had solid floor seats. The theatre was surprisingly small, given it's outside profile, but I suppose all that support space has to go somewhere.

The show came with NO PROGRAM (a fact that I was a little ticked about, having just dropped a 5 hundo on it. Come on, À Ố Show) so there was very little background information, no Director's notes, no idea about the cast, or the performance, or what to expect... we went in blind, and, like I said, I didn't really expect much except a nice night out with a friend going to a cultural landmark that I'd been dying to attend... and photograph.

History Time!

The building itself is a work of art. Built in 1897 and renovated on Saigon's 300th birthday, in 1998, it has undergone many transformations. The style is French Colonial, and it anchors District 1 with style. It hasn't always been a theatre, in use, or popular, though. This building has lived a full life.

The theatre's facade was renovated on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Saigon's founding, in 1998. Pretty impressive, even at night. This is the North side of the building (the stage would be at the left end facing toward the right, if we could see a cross-section). Bikes.

The French colonists requested a theatre troupe in the olden times, otherwise known as the 1860's. They played in a temporary location near the present day location. Amazingly, between the World Wars the entire cost of moving the troupes back and forth from France was borne by the city government. In 1944, however, the building was badly damaged by Allied bombardment of the Japanese, and was abandoned for almost 10 years.

There's some truly splendid and well-maintained
examples of French Colonial sculpture.

Following the Geneva Accords (which, and I'm sad to say I had to look this up, divided Vietnam into two zones: the southern Republic of Vietnam and a northern zone, governed by the people of Việt Minh), the building was temporarily held French civilians from the North. The following year, 1955, the once-and-future theatre sat the Lower House of the State (later Republic) of Vietnam. After Saigon's Fall in 1975, theatre and entertainment arrived home once more, and it's been operating ever since.

Present Day Time!

Kasia and I met up on the steps at 5:45 (so early!) and made our way inside. It was bright and airy, the doors wide open to let the evening breeze in. The lobby display began to give us a taste of what we were in for... apparently, lots of bamboo? All the testimonials were in the vein of "Wow much wonderful!" and didn't really give us a good idea of the content of the show. Something about Vietnamese life or something.

Everything used in the show was made of bamboo - it made for a pretty and effective lobby display.

Theatre Nerd Time!

The inside of the theatre was nifty and ornate. Lots and lots of marble and velvet, with motifs running around the gallery windows and balcony. It was much smaller than I thought! A very nice, cozy house. With A/C, thank the gods.

The whole theatre was much smaller than I expected.
Here's the balcony.

The Arch wasn't too wide, but it was deeper than it initially appeared. The piece took full advantage of the stage, which was nice to see. The staging was very effective.

Not a wide proscenium arch. Narrow and deep -
just like the houses here!

The show started 15 minutes late (!) but it was ok - these chairs were fantastic! 473 of them in the house today, compared to 800 when it was first built. Check out the detail. They're a richer red than the low lights allowed me to capture.

473 hand-carved wooden seats... that were surprisingly comfortable!

Show Time!

A traditional Vietnamese bowl/boat (made that up).

Oh yeah... the show! Well.

It was a New Circus-type show: Cirque meets Vietnam. The first segments captured Vietnamese craft and athleticism using the bare minimum. The following pieces were taken straight from rural life - merchants carrying wares while crossing a river, small village life, and young love in the delta made up the core of this segment.