Vietnamese Traditional Culture Introduces in Festival in The Netherlands

A performance by artists at Veenfabrik Theater. Photo: VNA

The Veenfabrik Theater successfully staged and performed a modern-style play called "Wereld van Wie?" (World of Whom), a creative blend of simple yet profound philosophical dialogues intertwined with Vietnamese music rich in folk elements, at Oerol Festival on Terschelling island in Friesland province of the Netherlands last weekend, VNA reported Wednesday.

The play tells the story of Phi Nguyen, a boy born in the ancient capital of Hue, who migrated to the Netherlands at the age of 3 and grew up with ups and downs of life.

The theater invited composer Ngo Hong Quang, who graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague a few years ago, to participate as a performing musician on the monochord, fiddle, and mouth organ, as well as to serve as a consultant on Vietnamese customs and traditions, and teach the other actors to sing "Ly Cay Da" in Vietnamese.

Artists of Veenfabrik Theater took souvenir photos with the Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh and his wife. Photo: VNA

Phi Nguyen, the character in the play, is a chef, but he is passionate and quite successful on the stage. Just before the Oerol Festival, he was nominated for the prestigious Dutch Louis d'Or award for best actor of the year.

In the play, he played the main role and also took on the role of chef. Actors and musicians talk while preparing vegetables and beans, serving rice, and serving food to the table. It's all in the script. The audience is extremely interested and is really led by the story with the joys and sorrows of the characters.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh and his wife visited Terschelling Island in the province of Friesland and attended the Oerol Festival. Source: TG&VN

They prepare food for the next day. Source: TG&VN

During this occasion, the theater troupe served nearly 10,000 people. Many of them affirmed that after watching the play, they felt a closer connection with Vietnam. The more successful the play, the more sympathetic to the actor's hardship. Every day they perform two shows and in the evening, they prepare food for the next day, then clean up. However, no one is tired but always has a smile on their lips. Simply because they receive the applause of the audience.

The Oerol Festival has been held annually for over 40 years, attracting nearly 50,000 spectators each occasion, which is ten times of the island's population. This year, the festival is taking place from June 9-18, featuring 40 art troupes from the European country.

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