Among amateur singers of Tuong (Vietnamese classical opera) in Binh Dinh province, the “impresario” Loc – leader of 1-year-old An Nhon Tuong troupe – is fairly senior to others. He is now 53 years old and has 35 years of experience in Tuong singing. With his ardent love for Tuong and humble attitude in striving for mastery of Tuong, Hoang Loc always makes great effort to improve both of his roles as an actor and an impresario.

“Unlike most of the amateur Tuong actors and actresses who were descendants of Tuong lineage in Binh Dinh province, I am only a layman. I identified myself with this kind of art by chance,” told artist Vo Hoang Loc.

Tuong amateur artist Vo Hoang Loc (3rd from left) and other actors and actresses of An Nhon Tuong troupe perform a play.

Being passionately fond of martial arts, Loc spent much time at his young age learning martial arts at various training halls all over the province. Meantime, Tuong troupe of famous actress Thu An was touring around and performing day and night at his hometown of Ba Canh hamlet, Dap Da town. Knowing about martial arts talent of Hoang Loc, the renowned singer suggested that he should join the troupe.

To her, an expert in martial arts would face much less hardship in performing Tuong, particularly in playing roles of knight or martial arts heroes who stood for strength and loyalty (kep vo), of characters who looked ugly and were hot-tempered (kep ran). Passing the voice test presided over by the celebrated actress Thu An herself, Hoang Loc officially joined the circle of Tuong artists with his debut role of Sam Hung in the classical play Pham Cong – Cuc Hoa.

With his martial arts skills and rather “cruel” outer appearance, Hoang Loc found easy to act dances or play roles of martial arts heroes or straightforward, hot-tempered people – his forte. In addition, his good sense of humour and his versatile ability of playing various parts help him succeed in villain roles in novel Tuong which is characterized by romanticism and modern Tuong which is written after the August Revolution in 1945 with historical and revolutionary themes.

Hoang Loc is best known for his roles of Tiet Cuong, Chau Thuong and Zhang Fei in Chinese opera - based classical dramas. He also plays very well fragile male characters with white make-up face like Tiet Dinh San or heroic characters with scarlet make-up face like Cao Hoai Duc. He can even play role of bootlickers like Bang Hong, Cat Thuong Lan, Ta Thien Lang. As a broad-minded person who adores nomadism and new discoveries, artist Hoang Loc didn’t stay in any troupe for too long. He wanted to learn from various predecessors and partners. He finally settled down at his hometown of An Nhon and took over the troupe of the famous couple, Hoang Chinh and Le Sieng, as they were old and trusted him.

“Meritorious artist Hoang Chinh has the strongest influence on me. He teaches me to become impregnated with the concept of talent and spirit of a Tuong actor. He also helps me discover acting ability of mine. So, I can play well role of level-headed characters that usually have pink painted faces (kep van) in addition to the roles of martial arts heroes, hot-tempered men or bootlickers. I want to diversify my acting and train myself to become a more equable and wiser man,” said Hoang Loc.

It is not easy to write about the achievements and the devotion of such a Tuong artist with 35 years of experience like Hoang Loc because he is quite reticent and modest. “There aren’t many actors of versatile talent like Hoang Loc. He owns both proper outer appearance and good voice. He is type of guy to have an inquiring mind. I dare say Hoang Loc is one of key amateur Tuong artists in Binh Dinh”, said musician Gia Thien, Deputy Director of Dao Tan Tuong Theatre Orchestra.

• Sao Ly

Some prominent achievements of Tuong artist Hoang Loc: Silver medal awarded in 2001 National Festival of Amateur Tuong troupes, the Southern region. Gold medal awarded in the 2nd – 2006 National Festival of Amateur Tuong troupes. Being nominated for the title Meritorious Artisan.