Duyet Thi Duong, the oldest theater in Vietnam-Travel

Duyet Thi Duong is a royal theater located in the Forbidden City (Royal Citadel, Hue Citadel). This is a theater for the king of the Nguyen Dynasty, his royal family, high officials, guests, and emissaries.

The work is located on the left side of the Forbidden City, in a large campus with many architectural items. According to the history books of the Nguyen Dynasty, the work was built in July 1826 under the reign of King Minh Mang. It is a wooden building with a rectangular plan, facing east, with a structure of 4 compartments and 2 wings; 46m long, 35m wide. The building has 8 rows of columns with two floors of frilled roofs. The theater floor is paved with Bat Trang tiles, the stage is in the middle. On four sides of the building, there are porches connected to the corridor system in the Forbidden City. The king’s viewing position was in the middle, on a high platform, with his own throne, the left and right sides were places for the national guests. Behind the king is a row of seats for queens and palace ladies. The mandarins of the court sat on either side.

Duyet Thi Duong has undergone many restorations, the first time in the 10th year of Minh Mang (1829). In the late 1930s and early 1940s, under King Bao Dai, the theater was badly damaged, so the court ordered a large-scale renovation. By 1962, Duyet Thi Duong was again renovated; In this renovation, the building is much deformed. After 1975, Duyet Thi Duong was still used as a teaching and learning place for the Faculty of Music, Hue University of Arts. From 1995 to 2002, the theater was completely restored and officially put into regular operation from March 2003.

Currently, Duyet Thi Duong theater is a place to perform traditional arts to serve guests travel visit the Imperial Citadel; including court music and excerpts from ancient tuong. The theater also staged a number of new performances on antique materials, in accordance with the tastes of the audience and the specificity of the architectural space. Each performance usually lasts about 35 minutes.

Compared to the original, the present Duyet Thi Duong has changed a lot, but it exists as an adaptation and carries historical values ​​as well as traditional theatrical art of Hue and Vietnam.