The A O Show at Saigon Opera House

Woven baskets, bamboo poles and a cast of talented, energetic and extremely acrobatic young performers combine to create The A O Show at Saigon Opera House, a distinctly Vietnamese interpretation of ‘new circus’.

Every time we have visited Ho Chi Minh City, we have walked past the magnificent Municipal Theatre of Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon Opera House), and wondered what it’s like inside. It’s not open for tours, you have to attend an event to see inside. I’ve thought about going to see a concert there, but suspected the girls may not appreciate a few hours of philharmonics, or Vietnamese Opera.

This time, however, as we walked past, the advertising for a current show caught our attention. It’s hard to describe exactly what The A O Show is. It’s part cultural show featuring traditional music, dance and acrobatics, but with a ‘new circus’ twist. Think Cirque de Soleil and you’re in the right ballpark.   The one-act show lasts about an hour, and through skilled choreography and awesome (in the true sense of the word) acrobatics and circus tricks, tells a story of the urbanisation of Vietnam. It starts with an idyllic rural setting, and works through industrialisation, urbanisation, and the realities of economic development. That all sounds very intellectual, but the story is told through snippets of Vietnamese community life.  The show combines modern performance techniques with classical instruments and music, and throws in more than a dash of humour. Unlike the somewhat opulent surroundings of the Saigon Opera House, the set is bare, and the performance relies on bamboo poles and a variety of woven mats and baskets (which are used traditionally for drying fish and as boats.) The Director of the A O Show, Tuan Le, has worked previously with Cirque du Soleil, and the members of the cast are mostly expat Vietnamese performers, brought together to form this show. Their talents are astounding. Some of the acrobatic feats were performed at great heights, on top of poles or baskets held up by other performers…and not a safety net or harness in sight! We were transfixed. It was a definite highlight of our stay in Saigon. I’d imagine it’s just a matter of time before this show is snapped up for an international festival tour. Photography is not permitted inside the theatre during the performance, but after the show, the cast assemble on stairs in the lobby for audience photos.

And the theatre? Yes, we finally got to see inside it. Designed and built in 1897 by the French architect Eugène Ferret, it seats 800 people in upholstered, comfortable seats. The theatre was modelled on French opera houses of the time. The view to the stage was excellent from our seats in row F.  (We sat in the Ooh! zone. Tickets are divided into Aah! Ooh! and Wow! zones.) While it was initially built and used as an Opera House, from 1956 it was used as the assembly hall of the lower house of the government of South Vietnam. It was only after the reunification of Vietnam in 1975 that it was used as a theatre again. It was restored in 1995, and it’s quite good shape for a theatre of its age. If you want to check out, the interior  I highly recommend The A O Show as your means of seeing inside the theatre! To give you a little taste of what’s in store in The A O Show, this 3 minute piece from BBC’s The Travel Show contains some footage of the show, as does the show’s official trailer which, if I’ve mastered this embedding process, should appear below:

The Details

Are you a fan of ‘new circus’ performances?

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