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Performing lmpire Opera in Colonial Hanoi
Michael McClellan
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OPERA IN COLONIAL HANOI 135
135
Journal of Musicological Research 22: 135166, 2003
Copyright 2003 Taylor & Francis
0141-1896/03 $12.00 .00
DOI:10.1080/01411890390216041
PERFORMING EMPIRE: OPERA IN COLONIAL HANOI
MICHAEL E. MCCLELLAN
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Material maniIestations oI power constitute a basic tool oI empire: Forts, barracks,
and other governmental structures generate a controlled landscape that contains both
colonist and colonized. Thus, it is not surprising that the French government oI
Indochina inaugurated costly building projects to reiIy their command over South-
east Asia, including the construction oI theaters in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Saigon that
were intended Ior the perIormance oI opera and operetta. These auditoriums IulIilled
several Iunctions. The architecture proclaimed France`s technological superiority,
while the perIormances celebrated French culture. Together, opera and opera house
represented the glorious past oI the metropole and the triumphant Iuture oI its
empire.
The case oI Hanoi is particularly instructive. AIter a tentative start in the 1880s,
a regular opera season was established there in the 1890s. By recreating a semblance
oI French cultural liIe in this corner oI Southeast Asia, city oIIicials hoped to strengthen
their ties with Europe. UnIortunately, transportation problems, prohibitive costs, and
the apathy oI the native Vietnamese combined to emphasize Hanoi`s isolation. Op-
era in Vietnam made the distancesphysical, social, and culturalthat separated
the colony Irom France even more apparent.
Material maniIestations oI power constitute a basic tool oI empire:
Forts, barracks, governors` residences, schools, hospitals, and monu-
ments generate an orderly, controlled landscape that contains both
the colonist and the colonized. Thus, it should come as no surprise
that the French government oI Indochina embarked on a series oI
building projects intended to make their command over Southeast
Asia maniIest.
1
In addition to the usual architectural displays oI might,
1. Gwendolyn Wright, 1he Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism
(Chicago: University oI Chicago Press, 1991), provides a thorough account oI French
urban planning in Indochina. Related studies include William S. Logan, Hanoi: Bi-
ography of a City (Sydney: University oI New South Wales Press, 2000); Panivong
Norindr, Phantasmatic Indochina: French Colonial Ideology in Architecture, Film
and Literature (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1996); and Christian
Pedelahore, 'Hanoi, Mirror oI Indochinese Architecture, Jietnamese Studies 107
(1992), 2656.
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136 MICHAEL E. MCCLELLAN
the French constructed three large theaters ostensibly dedicated to
the perIormance oI opera and operetta in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Saigon.
While the opera houses contributed to the reorganization oI the
colony`s physical space, the European opera and drama produced
within them reiIied the lessons oI colonial order through less tangible
means. PerIormers demonstrated the cultural prowess oI France and
thereby supported the sociopolitical order deIined by the buildings
themselves.
2
The temporal arts, however, are notoriously diIIicult to
control. Even within careIully prescribed limits and under the strict-
est modes oI censorship, perIormance has the potential Ior unexpected
and potentially subversive consequences. Weak actors, audience apa-
thy, ironic perIormance, or derisive reception can easily distort the
intended eIIect oI a dramatic production.
3
The chance oI such distor-
tions occurringintentionally or unintentionallymultiplies when-
ever contexts change.
4
By introducing opera to Vietnam, the coloniz-
ers unwittingly accentuated contradictions inherent in the colonial
project, revealing the strengths and weaknesses oI their struggle to
gain power over the region.
The workings oI empire can be explored through an examination
oI theater building and theatrical perIormance in Hanoi, whose case
2. Opera and opera house have participated in reinIorcing social and political
systems since their inception. See Luigi Bianconi, Music in the Seventeenth Century,
trans. David Bryant (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 161
204; Martha Feldman, 'Magic Mirrors and the Seria Stage: Thoughts Toward a Ritual
View, Journal of the American Musicological Society 48 (1995), 423484; Robert
Isherwood, Music in the Service of the King: France in the Seventeenth-Century
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1973), 204247; and James H. Johnson,
Listening in Paris: A Cultural History (Berkeley: University oI CaliIornia Press,
1995), 935.
3. See, Ior example, Laura Mason, Singing the French Revolution: Popular
Culture and Politics, 17871799 (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996), 76
90; Michael E. McClellan, 'The Concerts oI Counterrevolution: Music and Political
Dissent in Revolutionary France, 1he Musical Quarterly 80 (1996), 3157; and
Sonia Slatin, 'Opera and Revolution: La Muette de Portici and the Belgian Revolu-
tion oI 1830 Revisited, Journal of Musicological Research 3 (1979), 4562.
4. Clearly, the 25 April 1926 premiere oI Puccini`s 1urandot at La Scala con-
veyed a cultural message that diIIers signiIicantly Irom that oI the 1998 production
staged in the Forbidden City. On the La Scala premiere, see William Ashbrook and
Harold Powers, Puccinis Turandot: 1he End of the Great 1radition (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1991), 910. For inIormation concerning the Beijing
production, see 1he New York 1imes, 1 and 14 September 1998.
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is particularly instructive, since the establishment oI regular opera
seasons and the construction oI a costly municipal theater revealed
many oI the tensions oI empire building. The story not only conIirms
the mixed legacy oI French colonialism, with its successes, Iailures,
and lost opportunities, it also illustrates the importance oI opera to
French cultural identity in the early years oI the twentieth century. In
order to mount opera in colonial Vietnam, a number oI obstacles had
to be overcome, yet the determination oI the French colonists to do
so attests to the signiIicance this genre held Ior them. Opera was not
just entertainment, it was an expression oI communal values and pres-
tige. It was a means by which French expatriates could justiIy their
control over the colony and reaIIirm their own ties to the metropole.
They wanted opera to proclaim the superiority oI their culture as well
as to demonstrate their allegiance to a distant home. Nonetheless, the
end result Iell short oI these ambitious goals.
COLONIAL IDEOLOGY AND PRACTICE
Indochina
5
was a relatively late addition to France`s colonial hold-
ings. Although an active French military presence had existed in South-
east Asia since the early 1800s, the French gained control over the
entire region only near the end oI the century, when they subdued
the northern part oI Vietnam and established the Protectorate oI
Tonkin in 1884.
6
This conquest occurred at a time when the colonial
question was hotly debated in France and critics oI the govern-
ment challenged the ideology oI assimilation that had dominated
French colonial policy until the Third Republic.
7
Advocates oI as-
5. The Indochinese Union, a product oI French imperial policy, combined Cam-
bodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The latter was broken into three separate administrative
units (Cochinchina, Annam, and Tonkin) that obliterated its uniIied past. RudolI von
Albertini and Albert Wirz, European Colonial Rule, 18801940: 1he Impact of the
West on India, Southeast Asia, and Africa, trans. John G. Williamson (OxIord, U.K.:
Clio Press, 1982), 192196.
6. Herbert Ingram Priestley, France Overseas: A Study of Modern Imperialism
(n.p.: American Historical Society, 1938; reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1996),
216226; and David Joel Steinberg et al., In Search of Southeast Asia: A Modern
History, rev. ed. (Honolulu: University oI Hawaii Press, 1987), 312314.
7. See Raymond F. Betts, Assimilation and Association in French Colonial
1heory, 18901914 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961). Although some-
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similation had demanded the imposition oI French institutions and
ideals within each colony, making them integral parts oI France de-
spite their geographic distance Irom Europe. Thus, the colonies were
deemed territorial extensions oI the metropole, and administratively,
politically, and economically, they were treated as such. Ideally, these
remote regions were to become constituent elements oI the parent
country in which the colonized natives would be transIormed into
franais de couleur.
By 1880, vigorous opposition to assimilation had appeared. Its
opponents argued in Iavor oI associationist models in which the eco-
nomic advancement oI a colonized region was directed by the
metropole through direct oversight oIbut without completely re-
placingtraditional, indigenous institutions. By employing the ex-
isting social and political organization oI a colony, the apologists Ior
association intended to minimize the resistance oI colonized people
to French domination. The French government adopted the principles
oI association in the Iirst decade oI the twentieth century, but ele-
ments oI assimilationist thought continued to exert inIluence on the
colonization oI Indochina. The uneasy balance oI competing ideolo-
gies, which this situation Iostered, created an administrative instabil-
ity within the colony that was Iurther exacerbated by the conIusion oI
contemporary politics in France.
8
The one Ieature common to both assimilation and association
was absolute Iaith in France`s mission civilisatrice. Throughout the
Third Republic, every advocate oI imperial expansionwhether
assimilationist or associationistargued that France, by virtue oI its
revolutionary past, was uniquely poised, and thereIore morally obli-
gated, to carry out a colonial project.
9
One author deIended French
imperialism this way:
|I|t is the aIIirmation oI a great people who are aware oI their position in the world
and also oI the great services they render to the world. II France disappeared there
what dated, this remains a useIul guide to the distinction between the various colo-
nial ideologies Iound in France at the end oI the nineteenth century.
8. Virginia Thompson, French Indo-China (London: Allen and Unwin, 1937;
reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1968), 399402.
9. Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civili:e: 1he Republican Idea of Empire in
France and West Africa, 18951930 (StanIord, CaliI.: StanIord University Press,
1997), 110.
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would be less justice and enlightenment in the world. France has a Ieeling Ior such
things. She must live; she must act.
10
For the French, this sense oI historically inIormed duty not only
justiIied their territorial expansion but also made their brand oI impe-
rialism more benevolent. They assumed that colonization beneIited
the Vietnamese by developing an economy and establishing standards
oI living based on approved Western models. Thus, the authors oI an
early study oI Indochina and its inhabitants could wistIully declare,
'one day perhaps millions oI natives to whom we have brought lib-
erty will show their gratitude and pay Ior our sacriIices.
11
Not sur-
prisingly, French educational propaganda depicted France as a par-
ent who patiently guided the education and development oI a grateIul
Vietnamese child.
12
OI course, all nineteenth-century imperial powers emphasized
the beneIits oI colonialism to conquered territories and insisted that
their intent was simply to develop and improve their colonial posses-
sions. What distinguished the colonial project oI the Third Republic
Irom that oI its rivals was the insistence oI the French on this particu-
lar point within their imperialist rhetoric. To a large extent, this high-
minded image oI empire was a product oI France`s own turbulent
history. The inglorious collapse oI the Second Empire at the end oI
the FrancoPrussian War and the brutal suppression oI the Paris Com-
mune that Iollowed had leIt France humiliated both politically and
militarily. The Third Republic eagerly sought to redress this situation
and invoked an ideal oI civilization that enabled it to acknowledge
recent debacles while simultaneously rebuilding a sense oI French
national prestige. Thus, the regime oI Napoleon III was decried Ior
its moral degeneracy, and the Communards were demonized as sav-
ages. Needless to say, the Republic legitimized itselI as the embodi-
ment oI the 'civilized values that had distinguished France prior to
10. Joseph Chailly-Bert, 'La Politique colonial de la France, Indisch
Genootschap, 10 April 1899, 3, as quoted in Betts, Assimilation and Association,
90.
11. A. Bouinais and A. Paulus, LIndo-Chine franaise contemporaine, 2nd ed.
(Paris: Challamel, 1885), 2: 742.
12. David G. Marr, Jietnamese 1radition on 1rial, 19201945 (Berkeley: Uni-
versity oI CaliIornia Press, 1981), 6364.
13. Alice Bullard, Exile to Paradise: Savagery and Civili:ation in Paris and
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its disgrace.
13
In this context, the mission civilisatrice became the
means by which the French aIIirmed their nation`s status as a great
power. It not only provided a reason Ior and justiIication oI French
imperial expansion, it placed France on an equal Iooting with their
primary imperial rival, Great Britain.
14
Essentially, any nagging ques-
tions about the right oI a republic oI citizens to conquer and rule
colonial subjects were answered by redeIining empire as an act oI
largesse. In this way, the mission civilisatrice permitted the French
to proclaim their ideals and possess their colonies, too.
15
Complicating the situation was the attitude oI the French women
and men who actually lived and worked in Indochina. For many oI
these individuals, the debates over colonization had little direct rel-
evance. Their lives were controlled by the practical realities oI day-
to-day liIe in an unIamiliar climate amid an indigenous population oI
whom they were largely ignorant. For this society, colonization was
the means by which they earned a living, the reason Ior their pres-
ence within Southeast Asia. Assimilation, association, and other jus-
tiIications Ior the empire mattered less than their own sense oI iden-
tityspeciIically, their identity as French.
16
Living in a region that
was geographically peripheral to the metropole, they were at pains to
remind everyone, even themselves, oI their Frenchness. In doing so
they not only expressed national pride and commitment to coloniza-
tion but also asserted their ties to French culture, manners, and taste.
the South Pacific, 17901900 (StanIord, CaliI.: StanIord University Press, 2000), 2
3, 912, and 8688.
14. Henri Brunschwig, French Colonialism, 18711914: Myths and Realities,
trans. W. G. Brown (London: Pall Mall Press, 1966), 182183; and Jean-Marie
Mayeur and Madeleine Reberioux, 1he 1hird Republic from Its Origins to the Great
War, 18711914, trans. J. R. Foster (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press,
1994), 100.
15. Conklin, 1137. Conklin is concerned with the case oI French West AIrica,
but her analysis oI the Third Republic`s balancing oI its republican ideals with impe-
rial ambition is equally applicable to the situation in Indochina. See also Nicola
Cooper, France in Indochina: Colonial Encounters (OxIord: Berg, 2001), 109111.
16. This is not to deny the Iact that some colonists viewed their sojourn in
Indochina as a liberation Irom the constraints oI European society and celebrated
their distance Irom France. This category oI colonial adventurer, however, grew
increasingly rare as the colony matured and more and more administrators arrived in
Indochina with their Iamilies and bourgeois values securely in tow. See Peter Frederic
Baugher, 1he Contradictions of Colonialism: 1he French Experience in Indochina,
18601940 (Ph.D. dissertation, University oI Wisconsin, 1980), 122201.
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In such a context, the meaning and purpose oI the mission civilisatrice
were subtly transIormed. The process oI civilizing Indochina was not
only Ior the beneIit oI the indigenous population or to ensure the
rational development oI the colony`s economy; it also guaranteed the
colonists` well-being. Acknowledging this characteristic oI French
colonialism, a resident oI Hong Kong who visited Tonkin in the early
years oI the twentieth century compared liIe in Indochina with that in
British colonies:
The Anglo-Saxon conception oI French colonial liIe is that our neighbors spend
their public money on making themselves as comIortable as possible. In many re-
spects this is correct, and whoever has visited a French colony must admit that the
French colonial liIe has much to commend it, and is inIinitely more attractive than
ours. The French colonist is loath to sacriIice his pleasures oI home liIe, and there is
surely no reason why he should.
17
When invoked by colonists to justiIy their actions Ior developing the
colony, the civilizing mission oIten masked their own needs and de-
sires, while at the level oI colonial government it oIIered a conve-
nient moral and historical mandate Ior developing Indochina in ways
that beneIited France.
18
ESTABLISHING OPERA IN HANOI
Most historians oI French colonialism Iail to mention opera or other
Western theatrical genres in their discussions oI the mission
civilisatrice. Typically, they Iocus on the construction oI transporta-
tion networks, urban inIrastructures, and other public works. None-
theless, the French living in Indochina understood the production oI
opera and other dramatic arts to be a signiIicant part oI their colonial
undertaking.
19
Not only did such perIormances represent French cul-
17. AlIred Cunningham, 1he French in 1onkin and South China (Hong Kong:
Hong Kong Daily Press, 1902), 64.
18. Baugher, 109113.
19. Centre des Archives dÒutre Mer (Aix-en-Provence). Fonds Indochine.
Amiraux et Gouvernement General. |hereaIter GGI| 45635: dossier concerning the
Societe des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques relatif aux theatres; and GGI 17845:
dossier concerning theatres municipaux de lIndochine 19221926. Among the docu-
ments enclosed are letters Irom the society encouraging the use oI drama as propa-
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tural achievement, they also reminded the local community oI its al-
legiance to France and oI the values it was expected to uphold.
20
Thus,
the introduction oI opera to Indochina served several 'civilizing Iunc-
tions. The construction oI opera houses demonstrated France`s tech-
nological superiority and the practical skills the French could teach
their colonized subjects. Simultaneously the repertory perIormed
within them celebrated French aesthetic reIinement and taste, pre-
senting Gallic culture as the ideal to which other societies aspired.
In this way, the physical presence oI theater buildings in combina-
tion with the less tangible perIormances oI opera within embodied
the glorious past oI the metropole and the triumphant Iuture oI the
empire.
Given the importance oI the perIorming arts in European culture,
it is not surprising that French music and drama arrived in Hanoi
close on the heels oI colonial administrators. Musical revues were
organized there as early as 1884, and French perIormers traveling in
Asia soon began to make Hanoi a stopover on their tours.
21
Most oI
these perIormances appear to have been modest musical entertain-
ments that resembled Parisian cafe-concerts more than Iormal theat-
rical oIIerings. Nonetheless, these diversions whetted the appetite oI
the expatriate French oI Hanoi Ior more elaborate productions. The
Iirst attempt to produce something resembling an opera season oc-
curred in early 1890, when a troupe oI Iourteen singers arrived in
ganda. See also the article by Albert Poincignon in the LIndochine republicaine, 21
November 1925, in which he argues in Iavor oI music as a practical tool Ior estab-
lishing French authority within Vietnam.
20. The power oI the perIorming arts to reaIIirm or realign the values oI a
society has received much attention by scholars. For recent studies Iocused on nine-
teenth-century France, see Jane Fulcher, 1he Nations Image: French Grand Opera
as Politics and Politici:ed Art (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1987);
Anselm Gerhard, 1he Urbani:ation of Opera: Music 1heater in Paris in the Nine-
teenth Century, trans. M. Whittall (Chicago: University oI Chicago Press, 1998);
and Herve Lacombe, 1he Keys to French Opera in the Nineteenth Century, trans. E.
Schneider (Berkeley: University oI CaliIornia Press, 2001).
21. E. Claude Bourrin, Le Jieux 1onkin, 18841889 (Saigon: J. Aspar, 1935),
2535, 147176; Andre Masson, Hanoi pendant la periode heroque, 18731888
(Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1929), 173175; Charles Meyer; Les
Franais en Indochine, 18601910 (Paris: Hachette, 1985), 217. Also see Charles
Dominique Maurice Rollet de lÌsle, Au 1onkin et dans les mers de Chine: Souvenirs
et croquis, 18831885 (Paris: Plon, Nourrit, 1886), 270273.
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Hanoi. Their leader, De GreeI,
22
was the director oI the theater in
Saigon, which possessed a French community that had supported
operatic perIormances since the 1860s.
23
The perIormers, borrowed
Irom the ranks oI the Saigon troupe, oIIered selected works by Gounod,
Masse, OIIenbach, and other popular composers. The company en-
joyed a successIul run, but it was in residence Ior only a Iew weeks,
returning beIore long to obligations in Saigon.
24
Nothing comparable
to the De GreeI season was attempted Ior the next Iew years, even
though itinerant troupes occasionally visited. For example, a group
oI Iive perIormers, led by M. Mallaivre, passed through Hanoi in
1891 as part oI an Asian tour, but they only oIIered concerts and a
Iew one-act operettas.
25
The situation had changed by 1894, when the resident superior
26
oI Tonkin contracted a certain Mme. Debry to produce 'la comedie,
le vaudeville et lòperette in Hanoi with a troupe oI IiIteen.
27
This
company was not borrowed Irom Saigon; rather, it was hired to per-
22. De GreeI`s name appears in several diIIerent Iorms in both published and
unpublished sources. Alternative spellings include de GreeI and de GreII. I have
opted Ior the version that seems closest to a Dutch original. Thanks to Harrison
Ryker and Ana Ryker Ior their help with this matter.
23. AlIred Lowenberg identiIies OIIenbach`s Les Deux Aveugles as the Iirst
Western opera to be perIormed in Saigon in the autumn oI 1864. See his Annals of
Opera, 15971940, 3rd ed. (Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and LittleIield, 1978), 919.
24. The theater notices and reviews Iound in the Saigon republicain Ior the
month oI January and February 1890 make it clear that, during de GreeI`s trip north,
the remainder oI his Saigon troupe continued to perIorm in the southern city.
25. Mallaivre was not new to Southeast Asia and had apparently perIormed a
cafe-concert in Hanoi with a M. Turbot in 1888; see Bourrin, Jieux 1onkin, 147
148. His 1891 troupe also perIormed in Shanghai. See Chun-zen Huang, 1raveling
Opera 1roupes in Shanghai: 18421949 (Ph.D. dissertation, The Catholic Univer-
sity oI America, 1997), 141.
26. The resident superior, who answered to the governor general oI Indochina,
was head oI the protectorate`s colonial administration: See Henri Russier, Henri
Gourdon, and Edouard Russier, LIndochine franaise (Hanoi: Imprimerie dÈxtrme-
Orient, 1931), 22; and Eugene Teston and Maurice Percheron, LIndochine moderne:
Encyclopedie administrative, touristique, artistique et economique (Paris: Librairie
de France, 1932), 115117.
27. GGI 23814: dossier on Debry, including contract and correspondence.
Debry`s contract to perIorm in Hanoi is the Iirst oI its kind I have been able to locate.
However, in a letter to Debry Irom the Resident Superior Rodier dated 5 June 1894,
the latter assures the director that the amount oI her subvention will not be any less
than that paid to Montclair, whose troupe had previously given perIormances in
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Iorm exclusively in the north, dividing its time between the cities oI
Hanoi and Haiphong.
28
Thus, within ten years oI the French conquest
oI Tonkin, a semblance oI an opera season existed there. The 1894
1895 season was a success and led to the renewal oI Debry`s contract
Ior the Iollowing year. This second contract contains detailed inIor-
mation about the number oI perIormances, the number and type oI
singers, and ticket prices. It also speciIied that the troupe had to per-
Iorm alternate months in Hanoi and Haiphong Ior the duration oI the
season. The total French population oI Tonkin was still relatively
small, and only by perIorming in both cities was the venture made
viable.
29
The contract also required the director to recruit her per-
Iormers Irom France.
30
This requirement was undoubtedly intended
to keep her Irom employing inIerior singers who had been dropped
Irom the ranks oI the Saigon troupe or Irom itinerant opera compa-
nies traveling in Asia.
31
In addition, the insistence on importing sing-
ers and actors established a demonstrable link between the colony
and France, which would become a preoccupation oI the European
community oI Hanoi. By establishing direct connections with France
in general, and Paris in particular, the citizens oI Hanoi sought to
identiIy their city as a direct extension oI the metropole rather than a
distant outpost oI the empire. Thus, the presence oI these perIormers
conIirmed and strengthened the city`s ties to France.
32
Tonkin. To date I have not been able to obtain any detailed inIormation about
Montclair and her or his perIormers.
28. Haiphong is a coastal city roughly sixty miles east oI Hanoi and served as
the latter`s port. Until the completion oI a railway in the early twentieth century, the basic
mode oI transport between the two cities involved a slow trip by river and canal.
29. The total number oI Europeans living in the two cities at the end oI the
nineteenth century was a little over two thousand. The population oI Hanoi was
1,088; that oI Haiphong was estimated at one thousand. See Annuaire general de
lIndochine, partie administrative (1900), 377 and 382. Even a decade or so later,
the European population oI Indochina remained small: The estimate Ior the total
number oI Europeans living in Vietnam in 1913 is roughly twenty-three thousand;
see Albertini, European Colonial Rule, 202.
30. GGI 23814: Contract Ior Mme Debry, 18951896 season.
31. Itinerant opera troupes crisscrossed Southeast Asia throughout the nine-
teenth and early twentieth centuries, perIorming in a variety oI colonial centers like
Shanghai, Manila, and Batavia. UnIortunately, little scholarly attention has been
paid to these perIormers. The exception is Huang`s 1raveling Opera 1roupes. See note 25.
32. Moreover, the entire venture placed Hanoi on an equal Iooting with Saigon,
its southern rival. The rivalry oI the two cities is evident in a variety oI sources,
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In order to institute a regular and eIIicient system oI control over
theatrical enterprises, the government oI Tonkin created a joint mu-
nicipal commission that oversaw all matters relating to these endeav-
ors.
33
Typically, the commission, which included oIIicial representa-
tion Irom both Hanoi and Haiphong, contracted an independent en-
trepreneur in the spring or early summer to serve as theater director
Ior the next season. This involved voting on a number oI candidates
who had deposited a caution that conIirmed their Iinancial solvency
and commitment to the enterprise. Once the director was chosen, she
or he would personally travel to France to assemble a suitable com-
pany or arrange Ior a European agent to do so. Most oIten the troupes
consisted oI perIormers who had made names Ior themselves in ma-
jor provincial centers such as Marseilles or Lyons. Once the perIorm-
ers had been Iound, they were booked passage Ior the month-long
trip to Indochina. AIter arriving in the colony, they Iollowed the pat-
tern established by Debry`s company and moved between Hanoi and
Haiphong, perIorming Iour weeks in one city, then traveling to the
other Ior the next Iour-week period. From 1894 until World War I, a
typical season lasted six months, usually running Irom mid-October
to mid-April. The theatrical commission oversaw the troupe`s debuts
in both cities and could remove unacceptable perIormers Irom the
ranks oI the company by means oI a secret ballot (scrutin) taken in
the Iirst weeks oI the season.
34
Although seasons were planned and overseen with great care,
diIIiculties within the system appeared Irom the start. Even though
the two municipal governments shared the expense oI the ventures,
the subvention paid to impresarios continually stretched municipal
budgets. As a result, the cities Irequently turned to the government oI
Tonkin Ior supplemental Iunds. The protectorate, which had its own
budgetary concerns, argued consistently that such entertainment Iell
editorials Irom Hanoi`s newspapers, and the testimony oI visitors to the colony. See,
Ior example, Joseph Chevallier, Lettres du 1onkin et du Laos, 19011903 (Paris:
Harmattan, 1995), 3233.
33. Centre des Archives dÒutre Mer (Aix-en-Provence). Fonds Indochine.
Residence Superieure du Tonkin, Nouveau Fonds |hereaIter RSTNF| 2000: Arrte
no. 868, establishing the theatrical commission. See also Bulletin administratif du
1onkin (25 July 1903), 633635.
34. The rules concerning the scrutin were outlined in the contracts issued to the
entrepreneurs. See, Ior example, article no. 5 oI the contract printed in the Echo du
1onkin oI 24 April 1897.
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outside the responsibilities oI the larger colonial administration and
leIt the cities to cope on their own.
35
Equally serious was the diIIi-
culty oI Iinding an appropriate perIormance venue. Prior to Debry`s
troupe, most theater companies had used improvised stages in caIes
or private homes. The city oI Haiphong responded to the need Ior a
suitable venue quite early by building a theater in 18991900. Al-
though modest in both size and appointments, it appears to have sat-
isIactorily met the needs oI that community.
36
By contrast, Hanoi already possessed a number oI stages, but none
had been designed with Western dramatic genres in mind. As a result,
Debry`s company debuted in an auditorium maintained by the Philhar-
monic Society, a musical association operated by local amateurs.
37
The
space oIIered a disappointing solution to the problem: The auditorium
was small and the stage was cramped, having been designed with in-
strumental concerts rather than elaborately staged drama and opera in
mind.
38
So in the summer oI 1896, the municipal government consid-
ered purchasing a theater in the rue Takou,
39
which had previously been
used Ior the perIormance oI Chinese opera.
40
Despite the protectorate`s
35. As early as 1890, the government oI Tonkin resisted paying theatrical
subventions. GGI 6348: Report no. 578, concerning the theatrical subvention Ior de
GreeI.
36. GGI 6393: Documents concerning the decoration oI the new theater in
Haiphong.
37. Debry`s contract speciIied that her perIormers would perIorm in this venue.
See GGI 23814: Contrat Debry, article 12. The auditorium was located in the Boule-
vard Francis Garnier, now Dinh Tin Hoang Street.
38. It is true that the Philharmonic Society did produce some plays, but these
small-scale dramas appear to have been perIormed with limited stagings. See E.
Claude Bourrin, Choses et gens en Indochine: Souvenirs de bonne humeur, 1898
1908 (Saigon, J. Aspar, 1940), 187188. Bourrin describes these plays as 'petites
pieces de paravent et de salon.
39. There is some conIusion about this location within the secondary literature
concerning this theater. The rue Takou was located in the old quarter known as the
'thirty-six streets. The street had originally been named the rue de Nattes en Bambous
(Hang Cot street today), but at some time between 1900 and 1910 the name was
oIIicially changed to Takou. Casual reIerences to the rue Takou occur as early as
1902 (see the 1ribune Indochinoise, June 13, 1902), but maps oI the city published
in the Annuaire general de lIndochine continued to identiIy this road by its previ-
ous name until 1908. See also note 47.
40. Most oI the ethnic Chinese population oI Vietnam came Irom the southern
provinces oI China. It is likely that operas perIormed in such theaters were oI south-
ern regional genres. See Paul Kratoska, 'Nationalism and Modernist ReIorm, in
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reIusal to subsidize this purchase, the city decided to buy the theater
and immediately began its renovation.
41
UnIortunately, the limited
amount oI time between the acquisition oI the theater and the arrival oI
that year`s theatrical troupe resulted in a delayed opening oI the sea-
son.
42
Then, as soon as perIormances began, Iurther problems became
apparent. The troupe`s director immediately expressed dissatisIaction
with the house and requested additional improvements.
43
Thus began a
litany oI complaints about the structure that continued Ior a decade.
44
Clearly, the only way Ior Hanoi to acquire a suitable stage was to build
a new theater, designed to order. So, in 1899, with the encouragement
oI the government oI Tonkin, the city oI Hanoi decided to erect a mu-
nicipal opera house. The Iollowing year Governor General Paul Doumer
decided to elevate Hanoi to capital oI the Indochinese Union, and a
sense oI urgency was added to the popular conviction that a large and
imposing Western theater was needed.
45
The city charged Victorin
Harlay, an architect working Ior the highway department (Service de la
Voirie), to come up with a Ieasible pilot project. Surveying oI the build-
ing site Iollowed, ground was broken, and construction commenced on
7 June 1901.
46
1he Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, ed. Nicholas Tarling, vol. 2, part 1 (Cam-
bridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 307308.
41. GGI B220(23): Letters nos. 54 (21 June 1896) and 76 (19 July 1896). The
letters in this registre make clear that the Protectorate oI Tonkin considered the pur-
chase oI a new theater a municipal rather than a protectorate matter.
42. Echo du 1onkin, 14 October 1896.
43. The director oI the 18961897 season, Ohl, wanted the two boxes that abut-
ted the stage to be removed; Echo du 1onkin, 6 January 1897.
44. For example, Avenir du 1onkin, 16 September 1906, 9 October 1908, and 2
March 1910. Claude Bourrin, who occasionally served as a prompter at the Takou
theater, relates a story about rats running between his legs during perIormances; see
Bourrin, Choses et gens, 191.
45. In his essay, 'Saigon, or the Failure oI an Ambition, 18581945 (in Colo-
nial Cities: Essays on Urbanism in a Colonial Context, ed. R. Ross and G. J. Telkamp,
185192, Comparative Studies in Overseas History, no. 5 |Leiden: Martinus NijhoII,
1985|), X. Guillaume suggests that the reason Ior the move oI the capital Irom Saigon
to Hanoi was one oI climate. However, it seems unlikely that this was the primary
reason Ior the change. It is quite possible that, by moving to Hanoi, the colonial
government hoped to strengthen its control over traditional Vietnamese society in
the north as well as distance itselI Irom Saigon`s powerIul commercial interests. See
Gwendolyn Wright, 1he Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism (Chicago:
University oI Chicago Press, 1991), 188.
46. GGI 6399; Historique, developpement, financier, reglementation adminis-
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The location chosen Ior the new municipal theater was itselI re-
markable. Until recently, the designated plot oI land had been part oI
a marsh not Iar Irom the Red River.
47
It was necessary to drain the
excess water and drive a network oI posts into the ground beIore a
stable Ioundation could be laid. Needless to say, situating a large
building on such unlikely terrain involved considerable expense. Al-
though other locations in Hanoi would not have required as much
expensive preparation prior to laying the Ioundation, the chosen site
was deemed more appropriate: It was located close to the old French
Concession that bordered the river and was in the middle oI a rapidly
developing residential quarter where French colonials were construct-
ing spacious villas. Indeed, within a Iew years, an imposing new
mansion Ior the resident superior oI Tonkin as well as the Iashion-
able Hotel Metropole would be built in the same area, both a Iive-
minute walk Irom the theater.
The Iact that the cities oI Saigon, Haiphong, and Hanoi built Eu-
ropean theaters around the turn oI the twentieth century is not coinci-
dental.
48
The decisions to construct these theaters coincided with a
more aggressive stage oI colonial development, which was especially
acute in the northern part oI Indochina. This was most evident in the
urbanization oI Hanoi in accordance with Western models. Prior to
the French conquest, the center oI Hanoi had been located to the north,
in a compact area commonly reIerred to as the 'thirty-six streets.
49
trative et fonctionnement des divers services municipaux de la Jille de Hanoi (Hanoi:
Taupin, 1905), 71.
47. In his entry on 'Vietnam in 1he New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 4
(London: Macmillan, 1992, 10031004), Charles Pitt incorrectly identiIies this lo-
cation as on the rue des Nattes en Bambous. That was the location oI the 'tempo-
rary theater that was in use Irom 1896 until 1911; see note 39.
48. The Saigon theater was built between 1897 and 1899, opening on 17 Janu-
ary 1900; Andre Baudrit, Extrait des registres de deliberations de la Jille de Saigon
(Indochine Franaise), 2 vols. (Saigon: J. Testelin, 1936), 2: 342364. The Saigon
theater served as a model oI sorts Ior the one in Haiphong, which opened in 1900.
See Echo du 1onkin, 23 August 1987; and Bourrin, Choses et gens, 8689.
49. The Research Institute on Architecture, Ministry oI Construction |Viet-
nam|, Preserving Hanois Architectural and Landscape Heritage (Hanoi: Construc-
tion Publishing House, 1999), provides an overview oI the changes to Hanoi`s geog-
raphy Irom the sixteenth century to the present day. See also William S. Logan,
'Hanoi Townscape: Symbolic Imagery in Vietnam`s Capital, in Cultural Identity
and Urban Change in Southeast Asia: Interpretative Essays, ed. M. Askew and
W. S. Logan (Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press, 1994), 4950.
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This collection oI neighborhoods, organized by Iamily and proIes-
sional guilds, had grown up next to the Citadel, the IortiIied seat oI
power Irom which the representatives oI the Nguyn court in Hu
had ruled prior to the French conquest oI northern Vietnam. Among
the many changes the French made to the city was the dismantling oI
the walls oI the Citadel and the draining oI the swamps to the south
and west. Thus, they opened up new land, which permitted them to
expand and develop the city according to their needs. In doing so, the
French created a new Hanoi, one that reIlected their technological
strength, military might, and sense oI urban order. In spatial terms,
power moved Irom the old center to the grid-like boulevards oI the
French Quarter, the area that the new theater would eventually domi-
nate.
50
The physical changes made to the city not only reIlected the
growing power oI the colonial government, they also established clear
geographic boundaries between the colonizers and the colonized. This
increased physical segregation reiIied European racial, social, and
moral distinctions that insulated the French Irom the Vietnamese and
Irom Vietnam itselI.
51
Urbanization produced a new, colonized space
in which the opera house Iunctioned as the Iocal point.
BUILDING THE THTRE MUNICIPAL
Work on the theater proceeded slowly: Begun in 1901, it was not
Iinished Ior another ten years. Several reasons contributed to this pro-
tracted period oI construction, including ineIIectual management, poor
governmental oversight, and a chronic lack oI Iunds. Needless to say,
debate over the merits oI the project and the need to see it through to
completion continued throughout the entire ten years. The arguments
expressed in Iavor oI and against the project are worth examining in
some detail, as they oIIer a catalogue oI changing opinions about the
50. There were several stages to the urban development oI Hanoi. The period
prior to World War I was dominated by the government`s corps oI engineers, who
Iavored the rectilinear patterns that still mark the French Quarter. In the 1920s, the
architect Ernest Hebrard was hired to create less regimented and more pleasing ur-
ban prospects within the colony; see Wright, 201233.
51. Robert E. Elson, 'International Commerce, the State and Society: Economic
and Social Change, in 1he Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, ed. Nicholas
Tarling, vol. 2, part 1 (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 178
179.
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theater and its Iunction. Furthermore, the conIlict exposed tensions
within the colony concerning the ultimate purpose oI maintaining a
French presence in Indochina. The disagreements over the theater,
thereIore, reIlect contested meanings oI empire and competing ide-
ologies oI colonization.
The decade-long debate over the theater can be divided into three
diIIerent phases. The Iirst began with the decision to build the theater
and lasted through the Iirst years oI construction. The second stretched
Irom early 1906 through 1908, during which time the dispute intensi-
Iied as calls to abandon the project gained support. The last phase
began in 1909, when Iinal revisions to the design oI the theater were
made and work on the structure was deliberately brought to a conclu-
sion. OI course, no one imagined the theater would take so long to
build. Initial estimates had it opening Ior business as early as 1902.
52
This deadline, however, was not met, and by November oI that year
public complaints about mismanagement and stalled construction
began to surIace.
53
Although there was concern over the delay in build-
ing the theater, the municipality took no action at this time. The lack
oI attention at this crucial stage in the building`s construction can be
attributed to another distraction that preoccupied city government:
From November 1902 through January 1903, Hanoi hosted an Inter-
national Exposition celebrating the French presence in Southeast Asia.
The Iair included exhibits showcasing the industry and agriculture oI
Indochina, as well as pavilions erected by China, Japan, and the colo-
nial governments oI Malayasia and Burma.
54
Although small when
compared with the better known colonial expositions held in
Marseilles and Paris, Hanoi`s authorities used this opportunity to de-
clare their city a major center oI EastWest commerce.
55
As the host
Ior this event, the municipal government Iound itselI absorbed with
other matters at the precise moment when trouble with the theater
52. In his De Marseilles a Canton: Guide du voyageur (Paris: Comite de lÀsie
Franaise, 1902, 141), Claudius Madrolle announced rather prematurely that the
theater would be open Ior business in 1902. See also the 1ribune indochinoise, 13
June 1902.
53. 1ribune indochinoise, 26 November 1902.
54. Paul Bourgeois and G.-Roger Sandoz, Exposition dHanoi, 19021903:
Rapport general (Paris: Comite Franais des Expositions a lÈtranger, |1903|).
55. Much has been written on the colonial expositions held in Marseilles and
Paris. For a recent summary oI the issues involved, see Cooper, France in Indochina,
6590.
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Iirst occurred.
56
Only aIter the exposition had ended was attention
turned to it, by which time, unIortunately, the necessary Iunds were
lacking and the theater was well on its way to becoming a persistent
headache.
By January oI 1904, the increasing costs oI the project led the
municipal council to consider the possibility oI discontinuing work
on the theater altogether. OI particular concern were design Ilaws
that rendered the theater susceptible to Iire, improvements to which
naturally enoughwould require Iundamental modiIications to the
existing structure that involved considerable extra expense. Domergue,
the current resident mayor, advocated an increase in the property tax
on undeveloped land (terrains vagues) in order to raise 40,000 pias-
tres Ior this purpose.
57
According to the mayor, the Tonkin govern-
ment would respond to this show oI good will on the city`s behalI by
providing the remaining Iunds needed to bring the project to a close.
58
Domergue, an appointed oIIicial, Iaced resistance to his proposal by
an elected municipal council that balked at any suggestion oI raising
taxes. Council members expressed their Irustration by pointing out
that the city had committed itselI to building the lavish complex, in
part, because the government oI the protectorate had urged them to
do so.
59
Only aIter some IorceIul lobbying by the resident mayor did
56. The Exposition had originally been scheduled Ior 1901/1902, but it was
delayed owing to the diIIiculty in organizing such a large event in a city that still
lacked much in the way oI inIrastructure. See Bourgois, 8588; and the 1ribune
Indochinoise, 22 October 1902 and 7 November 1902.
57. The resident mayor was not elected but appointed, as were the resident
superior oI Tonkin and the governor general oI Indochina. The city councils oI both
Hanoi and Haiphong, however, were elected, including a majority oI French mem-
bers and a minority oI Vietnamese members. See Teston, LIndochine moderne, 96
100. The piastre was the currency oI colonial Vietnam. Based on the exchange rates
published in the Avenir du 1onkin Ior the decade 19011910, it was worth between
2.3 and 2.5 French francs during this period. For French concerns about the ex-
change rate in 1912, see Metin Albert, Rapport fait au nom de la Commission des
affaires exterieures chargee dexaminer le profet de loi tendant a autoriser un emprunt
de 90 millions (Paris: Impr. de la Chambre des deputes; Martinet, 1912), 3942.
58. Extensive coverage oI the council deliberations in question is Iound in the
Indochine republicaine, 23 January 1904 and 26 January 1904.
59. I have yet to Iind written evidence Irom 1899 that the oIIice oI the resident
superior, or other branches oI the protectorate government, placed pressure on the
city to build a theater. However, during sessions oI the municipal council oI Hanoi,
repeated reIerences are made to the protectorate`s strong encouragement Ior the con-
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the members oI the council agree to the new tax plan. These mea-
sures, however, Iailed to generate suIIicient revenue, and the munici-
pal theater remained unIinished.
60
Despite the Irustration oI city council members with the theater
throughout the Iirst Iive years oI its construction, no persistent de-
mands to abandon work on it were made during this period. On the
contrary, several prominent and inIluential members oI the French
community appear to have supported the expense and perceived the
project to be a necessary step in planning Ior the Iuture.
61
Indeed, to
the residents oI Hanoi, the structure represented Iaith in the colony
and France`s continuing commitment to the development oI the re-
gion.
62
Nonetheless, by the middle oI the decade, patience had worn
thin. By then, individuals inside and outside oI the government be-
gan to express openly their disapproval oI this ill-conceived and poorly
implemented project. Even those members oI the community who
eagerly supported the construction oI a municipal theater pointed to
details that had been improperly planned or executed.
63
During the
late summer and Iall oI 1906with only the outer walls oI the build-
ing erecteda government architect, Bossard, redesigned the the-
ater; in December oI the same year, his plan was submitted to the
committees oI public works and Iinances Ior examination.
64
Bossard`s
emendations, which were estimated to require two years` work, im-
pressed the members oI those committees suIIiciently, and they en-
dorsed it. The protectorate and the city were to share the additional
expenses, with the protectorate underwriting eighty percent oI costs
and the city assuming responsibility Ior the remainder.
65
struction oI such a theater. Clearly, the perception oI coercion existed, even iI docu-
mentation oI it is lacking. See the Indochine republicaine, 23 January 1904, and the
Avenir du 1onkin, 28 August 1907.
60. GGI 6399: Historique, developpement, financier, 74.
61. This was the editorial stance oI local newspapers like the Avenir du 1onkin,
the 1ribune indochinoise, and the LIndochine republicaine.
62. GGI 6399: Historique, developpement, financier, 7475.
63. Avenir du 1onkin, 28 July 1906. Although this newspaper`s editorial policy
consistently supported the government`s successive decisions to Iinish the theater, its
editors did take some delight in pointing out how in one design Ior the theater Iaade, the
names Sardou, Augier, and Dumas were placed under the rubric 'Operette, while the
names oI Bizet, Massenet, and Masse were to be grouped beneath 'Comedie.
64. Avenir du 1onkin, 30 August 1906 and 21 November 1906.
65. Avenir du 1onkin, 28 December 1906 and 29 December 1906. The cost was
estimated at 50,000 piastres Ior each year.
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The Iollowing summer, however, the municipal council chal-
lenged the plan. At issue was the manner in which the protectorate`s
contribution was allocated to the city. The budgetary supplement Irom
the protectorate had been earmarked Ior highway maintenance (grands
voiries) rather than Ior the theater itselI. Incensed council members
argued that the city had already assumed more than a Iair share oI the
Iinancial burden, while the government oI Tonkin avoided providing
any direct subsidy Ior what it considered a strictly municipal matter.
In response, the council voted unanimously to reject Iurther taxes or
loans Ior the purpose oI realizing any plans Ior completion, eIIec-
tively ending the project.
66
Although the motion to abandon work on
the theater was based on real Iiscal concerns, the move was not uni-
versally applauded within the community at large. In the wake oI the
decision, an acrimonious exchange opened up between those who
supported the new theater and its opponents. Advocates oI Iinishing
the theater Ielt that the council had been grandstanding Ior their con-
stituencies and had attempted to Iorce the protectorate to assume Ii-
nancial responsibility Ior the theater.
67
Meanwhile, other critics oI
the project began to decry the scale and extravagance oI the plan.
From their perspective, the auditorium was a Iolly, a reminder oI
what the colonial government had not accomplished in Tonkin. Al-
though they acknowledged that the theater represented French inge-
nuity and craItsmanship, they believed the city should employ those
talents in more practical public works: In the eyes oI these critics, the
government ignored inIrastructure in Iavor oI monuments. The Iact
that the municipality had continued to direct Iunds toward new build-
ings, including the theater, while ignoring repeated demands Ior the
improvement oI the city`s antiquated sewer systema major con-
cern Ior the native Vietnamese council membersgave credence to
this complaint.
68
As a result, the years 1906 to 1908 saw no progress
in theater construction. Instead, accusations were exchanged while
66. Avenir du 1onkin, 28 August 1907. By the summer oI 1907 roughly 450,000
500,000 piastres had been spent on the theater. Original estimates had stated only
200,000 piastres would be required to build the theatre. The city`s entire budget Ior
1907 was 750,879.48 piastres. See Annuaire general de lIndochine, partie
commerciale et industrielle (1908), 615.
67. See the letters oI a Iormer council member in the Avenir du 1onkin, 31
August 1907, 4 September 1907, 12 September 1907, and 15 September 1907.
68. Wright, 185. With respect to the concern Ior public hygiene, see the Avenir
du 1onkin, 30 May 1908.
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the exterior oI the theater slowly began to decay. Further exacerbat-
ing the situation were the regular repairs required by the Takou Street
Theater. This 'temporary stage had been in continuous use Ior more
than a decade, and it was clearly deteriorating. Problems with its Ioun-
dation, the paving stones in the courtyard, as well as serious concerns
about Iire prevention required regular outlay oI city Iunds.
69
What ultimately broke the deadlock between city and protector-
ate was yet another revision oI the theater`s blueprints put Iorward in
early 1909. This time Lagisquet, an architect working Ior the protec-
torate government, made the changes.
70
In October oI that year, the
municipal council heard his ideas Ior reducing some parts oI the struc-
ture to a more appropriate (yet suIIiciently grand) size and complet-
ing the theater as economically as possible. Instead oI a capacity oI
1,200, as originally conceived, the new design was to accommodate
a more modest audience oI 754.
71
This attempt to bring the project to
a close was welcomed by all parties, as the hulking, partially built
structure in the middle oI the most Iashionable quarter oI town had
become an embarrassing eyesore. The community at large had grown
weary oI the endless arguing and was eager to see the project brought
to an end. As a result, a majority in the municipal council agreed to
take out a loan Ior the amount needed to complete it using the
protectorate`s annual subvention as collateral security. The vote was
passed ten in Iavor, Iive against. A reporter Ior the Avenir du 1onkin
summed up what must have been the Ieeling oI the majority when he
declared, 'I understand perIectly the qualms oI the opposition; this
truly is a hard pill to swallow! But what to do then with that great
devil oI a monument?
72
Once again construction commenced. De-
spite some misgivings on the part oI the governor general as to the
Iinancing oI the project, work continued steadily over the next two
69. Avenir du 1onkin, 13 June 1908, 25 October 1908, and 6 November 1908.
70. Avenir du 1onkin, 28 January 1909 and 10 February 1909. Although
Lagisquet appears to have been in charge oI the project, the early reIerences to the
plan attribute it jointly to Lagisquet and Victorin Harlay. Harlay was a city employee
(inspecteur des batiments civils) and had been responsible Ior the original pilot project
Ior the theater. See GGI 6399: Historique, developpement, financier, 71.
71. The total French population oI the Hanoi in 1909 was listed as 2,674 in the
Annuaire general, partie administrative (1909), 409.
72. 'Je comprends parIaitement les scrupules des opposants; cette pilule est
vraiment dure a avaler! Mais que Iaire de ce grand diable de monument? Avenir du
1onkin, 29 October 1909.
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years.
73
Under the direction oI Lagisquet, who had the conIidence oI
the municipal council, the structure was Iinally brought to comple-
tion, and its doors opened to the public in November oI 1911.
74
Once complete, the new theater impressed the city`s inhabitants
and visitors alike. It stood at the extreme end oI the rue Paul Bert
(now Trang Tin street), one oI the eastwest thoroughIares cutting
through colonial Hanoi. The approach down the street ended with
a clear view oI the theater, creating a commanding urban pros-
pect and a parallel to the Avenue de lÒpera in Paris. Comparisons
oI Hanoi to the French capital had long been a trope oI Southeast
Asian travel literature, and similarities between the new theater and
the Palais Garnier were not lost on observers.
75
Critics oI the theater`s
size and expense also pointed to these similarities, but to mock the
pretensions oI the colonial French community rather than to exalt
it.
76
In spite oI the exaggeration involved, these comparisons pro-
moted Hanoi as a colonial counterpart oI Paris and made the city`s
ties to that European capital maniIest. The impression was reinIorced
Iurther by the presence oI the now Iully developed French quarter
around the theater. Its layout and organization incorporated many oI
the most progressive elements oI contemporary European urban de-
73. Avenir du 1onkin, 14 May 1910. The governor`s doubts Iorced the city to
seek the support oI the Council oI the Protectorate by guaranteeing their Iuture
subventions.
74. Initially the inauguration was scheduled Ior the end oI October, but last-
minute problems, including the delivery oI the wrong size oI orchestra seats, led to a
delay. See the Avenir du 1onkin, 9 and 30 September 1911. An extended description
oI the theater`s opening (albeit written years aIter the Iact) is Iound in Avenir du
1onkin, 12 February 1925.
75. See, Ior example, Chevallier, 32; Harry A. Franck, East of Siam: Ramblings
in the Five Divisions of Indo-China (New York: Century, 1926), 201203; Eugene
Lagrilliere-Beauclerc, A 1ravers LIndochine: Cochinchine-Cambodge-Annam-
1onkin-Laos (Paris: Tallandier, 1900), 186187; Claudius Madrolle, 1onkin du Sud
Hanoi (Paris: Comite de lÀsie Franaise, 1907), 1011; and Marcel Monnier, Le
1our dAsie, 4th ed., 2 vols. (Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 1903), 245.
76. Eugene Brieux, Joyages aux Indes et Indochine (Paris: Delagrave, 1910),
38, 5760. See also Henry Norman 1he Peoples and Politics of the Far East (Lon-
don: T. Fisker Unwin, 1900), 74. Norman questions the enthusiasm with which most
writers greeted the 'Paris oI Tonkin: 'Hanoi is less interesting than you expect. The
Ioreign town, oI Iive or six hundred inhabitants, is little more than one street . . . that
is disIigured by a narrow, irregular tramway, running down the middle and carrying
military stores all day long.
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sign.
77
Much oI Hanoi now resembled a modern Western city, in which
the municipal theater was the centerpiece, trumpeting the wealth and
privilege oI the city`s French population.
OPERATIC IDEALS AND PERFORMANCE REALITIES
Once the municipal theater was completed, previous diIIerences re-
garding its expense and utility were conveniently buried in Iavor oI
applauding its representational Iunctions. A musical revue Irom 1912,
entitled Hanoi-sur-Scene, written and acted by local amateurs, made
this abundantly clear.
78
PerIormed in the newly opened theater as part
oI a charity beneIit Ior the Red Cross, this play with incidental songs
satirizes Hanoi society, poking Iun at the ineIIiciency oI local gov-
ernment oIIicials as well as the Ioibles oI the local French. Yet de-
spite the gentle ridicule aimed at their Iellow colonists, the anony-
mous authors repeatedly expressed parochial pride in the city itselI
and enthusiastically acclaimed the city`s public structures. In doing
so, the play oIIers some insight into the French colonists` perceptions
oI themselves and their city shortly aIter the theater had opened.
Throughout their play, the authors constructed parallels between Hanoi
and cities in France, Paris in particular. The very title oI the revue
does this by means oI a pun. By substituting the homophone Seine
Ior scene, Hanoi-on-Stage becomes Hanoi-sur-Seine, or Hanoi-on-
River-Seine. This wordplay converts Hanoi into a comic surrogate oI
Paris. The joke, however, masks a crucial Irame oI reIerence Ior co-
lonial society. Within Westernized Ieatures oI Hanoi`s urban land-
scape, the residents saw a reIlection, albeit on a smaller scale, oI the
French capital. The pun would not have been amusing iI the city`s
inhabitants had not derived pleasure Irom viewing their hometown as
a miniature Paris.
79
77. See Wright, 161233, especially her discussion oI the urban planner Ernest
Hebrard`s work in Hanoi.
78. Thu Vien Quoc Gia Viet Nam (National Library oI Vietnam, Hanoi),
M1595(20): Hanoi-sur-scene: Revue locale en trois actes et un prologue (Hanoi:
Imprimerie de lÀvenir du Tonkin, 1912). This includes the text oI the revue only.
The stage directions include the names oI the melodies to which the words are to be
sung, but musical arrangements do not appear to have survived.
79. According to a popular travel guide to Tonkin, the European residents oI
Hanoi were in the habit oI comparing the rue Paul Bert to the rue de la Paix in Paris;
see Madrolle, 1onkin, 10.
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In order to Iurther strengthen Hanoi`s association with the French
capital, the authors made use oI a recent Parisian scandalthe theIt
oI Leonardo da Vinci`s Mona Lisa Irom the Louvre on August 21,
1911as the basis oI their plot.
80
Indeed, the main character in Hanoi-
sur-Scene is La Joconde, the Mona Lisa come to liIe. She has leIt
France oI her own Iree will because oI Iatigue and boredom. In her
Iirst song, La Joconde declares that aIter patiently enduring the stares
and stupid comments oI visitors to the museum Ior years, she has
decided to decamp and see more oI the world. She travels in the com-
pany oI De Tham, a shady Vietnamese rebel, whose stories about
Indochina have lured her to the colony.
81
Over the course oI the re-
vue, La Joconde appears in or beIore several colonial landmarks in
Hanoi and comments on their appearance. Her response to the city
carries more than just the weight oI an average European visitor who
is impressed with its charms: The Mona Lisa was and is an immedi-
ately recognizable totem oI European high culture. Moreover, within
the context oI this play, she represents the reIinement and bon gout
associated with France. While it is true that the original artwork is an
exemplar oI the Italian rather than the French Renaissance, in this
play La Joconde clearly distances herselI Irom these Italian roots.
Early in Act I, she is approached by a Iussy immigration oIIicial who
demands to know the name oI her Iather. She proudly responds,
'Franois I. Leonardo may have painted her, but it is that artist`s
last patron whom she claims as parent. This Mona Lisa clearly pledges
allegiance to France. Consequently, she assumes the role oI an oIIi-
cial arbiter oI French art and culture transIerred to Hanoi, and her
80. The stolen painting was eventually retrieved and returned to the museum in
December 1913, where it remains today in its hermetically sealed shrine. For the
curious story oI the missing Mona Lisa, see Roy McMullen, Mona Lisa: 1he Picture
and the Myth (Boston: Houghton MiIIlin, 1975), 197215.
81. This character was based on Hoang Hoa Tham, commonly known as De
Tham, who had a reputation among Vietnamese peasants as a kind oI Asian Robin
Hood. The highpoint oI De Tham`s career came on the evening oI June 27, 1908,
when he and a group oI co-conspirators unsuccessIully attempted to poison the en-
tire French military garrison oI Hanoi. He was eventually assassinated in 1913, one
year aIter his Iictional counterpart trod the boards oI the Thetre Municipal. See
David G. Marr, Jietnamese Anticolonialism, 18851925 (Berkeley: University oI
CaliIornia Press, 1971), 7275, 193194. For a Iuller, but Iictionalized account oI
De Tham`s liIe, see Paul Chack, Hoang-1ham, pirate (Paris: Editions de France
1933).
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opinions directly convey the imprimatur oI the metropole. For ex-
ample, in Scene 5 oI the second act, a local government oIIicial asks
Ior her opinion oI the Indochinese capital, to which she politely re-
sponds, 'Oh, it is an impressive city, but what I Iind most monumen-
tal is the theater, which is as lavish as our national opera. Once again,
the Palais Garnier is invoked to elevate Hanoi to the level oI Paris.
Moments aIter this bit oI inIlated praise, La Joconde meets a char-
acter who is the personiIication oI Hanoi. The stage directions de-
scribe the latter`s costume in detail: She is to be coiIed and armed
like the statues commemorating French cities at the Place de la
Concorde in Paris (Scene 6). The reIerence to these Iamous Parisian
monuments liIts Hanoi out oI its colonial context by portraying it as
an equal oI those provincial capitals. The parallel drawn between
Hanoi and cities like Lyons and Bordeaux also reIlects a desire to
distinguish the Iormer Irom other Indochinese cities. Although the
seat oI government Ior all Indochina had moved to Hanoi in 1902,
the city remained much smaller and less developed than Saigon. In-
deed Governor General Paul Doumer, who had made it the capital oI
Indochina, remarked that in comparison to its southern rival, Hanoi
was 'a rough outline oI a city (une ville ebauchee), which was in the
process oI being built.
82
In the 1912 revue, however, this living statue
asserts that the Tonkinese capital has Iully realized its potential as a
city. As prooI oI this maturity, Mme Hanoi carries architectural mod-
els oI the municipal theater and the new post oIIice, which she proudly
presents to La Joconde as her youngest 'children. The decision to
showcase these two recently constructed buildings was not an arbi-
trary one. The structures not only embodied current French taste and
technology, but each in its own way bound the colony to France. The
post oIIice provided an obvious link to the metropole through its mail
services, whereas the theater showcased the talents oI French women
and men whose perIormances oIIered a no less signiIicant connec-
tion to the culture oI France.
The entrepreneurs who vied Ior the theatrical concession in Hanoi
and Haiphong certainly understood the social and cultural Iunctions
the theater served. The municipal theater represented the success and
Iuture oI France in Asia. In order to justiIy France`s dominion over
82. Paul Doumer, LIndochine franaise: Souvenirs (Paris: Vuibert et Nouy,
1905), 124.
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the region, not only the building but also the repertoire perIormed
within it had to justiIy French superiority. Thus, when submitting
proposals to the city, candidates Ior the post oI theater director oIten
proposed an impressive array oI operas and operettas: Gounod`s Faust,
Bizet`s Carmen, Massenet`s Manon or 1has, as well as selected works
by Donizetti, Rossini, and Verdi Irequently topped the list. With these
chefs-doeuvres, the candidates indicated their seriousness oI pur-
pose and ambition. Yet, like the overblown rhetoric that compared
Hanoi to Paris, the promised repertoire represented an idealized view
oI reality. Most seasons did include one or two major operas or opera-
comiques, but these works were the exceptions. The sentimental op-
erettas and the comedie-operettes oI composers like Audran, Herve,
and Lecocq were mounted with much greater Irequency. Although
possessing undeniable charm and wit, the music oI the latter compos-
ers occupied a lower rank within the presumed hierarchy oI French
lyric drama than did the music oI Gounod or Massenet, and this pre-
dominance oI lighter genres countered the loIty image with which
the theater had been promoted.
This situation was not the result oI any single cause. Nonethe-
less, it was true that Hanoi audiences generally preIerred less taxing
musical entertainment, and that entrepreneurs, who remained ever
aware oI the Iinancial bottom line, strove to meet the tastes and ex-
pectations oI this community. In the early years oI the twentieth cen-
tury, newspaper reviewers and editors occasionally noted this pen-
chant Ior Iamiliarity and diversion, but they also expressed their de-
sire to raise the general audience`s level oI musical sophistication.
For example, during the 19061907 season, a journalist Ior the Avenir
du 1onkin encouraged the public to attend a production oI Massenet`s
Sapho. He acknowledged 'that the better part oI our public, unIamil-
iar with this type oI music in which the melody does not unIold in the
so-called classical Iashion, Iinds it a bit disconcerting, but he urged
audiences to listen careIully, arguing that Massenet`s music conveys
an 'intense truth that becomes evident upon reIlection.
83
At other
times, critics directly rebuked audiences Ior their lack oI attention to
the music, as when a newspaper review complained oI audience noise
83. 'Je sais Iort bien quùne bonne partie de notre public, peu Iamiliarisee avec
ce genre de musique ou la melodie ne se deroule pas suivant la method dite classique,
sèst trouvee quelque peu deroutee. Avenir du 1onkin, 34 December 1906.
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during the 'Intermezzo oI Cavalleria rusticana. In this case, how-
ever, much oI the blame was directed at the management, which had
divided this one-act opera in two and inserted an intermission imme-
diately beIore the intermezzo to provide the audiences with a reIresh-
ment break. Upon returning to the theater, the crowd continued to
chat in complete disregard oI the music.
84
As more French men and women continued to arrive and the
colony grew in size, Iewer serious works were mounted and the preI-
erence Ior light-hearted distraction became ever more pronounced.
This emphasis was also a response to increasing competition Irom
other amusements, such as the cinema. In order to remain Iinancially
solvent, entrepreneurs needed to mount productions that would at-
tract a wide segment oI the population. Not surprisingly, they es-
chewed works that would challenge the audience in Iavor oI what
was Iamiliar. This phenomenon became especially pronounced in the
aItermath oI World War I. A report sent to the governor general in
1923 by an active participant in Hanoi`s musical circles Irankly ad-
mits this very Iact.
85
The author speciIically pointed to sports and
Iilm as rival entertainments that made the theater less attractive to
many colonists. Consequently, works like Henri Christine`s Phi-Phi
and Maurice Yvain`s 1a bouche, which owe much to the conventions
oI the music hall, enjoyed considerable success in Hanoi during the
1920s.
86
OI course, the emphasis on theatrical diversion was apparent
in France at the same time.
87
But in Hanoiunlike Parisshows like
Phi-Phi and 1a bouche shared the same stage and even the same sing-
ers as Manon and Mireille. In this way, the Municipal Theater`s sta-
tus as a symbol oI European high culture was compromised.
The increased Irivolity oI the repertoire Ior any given season,
however, cannot be reduced to postwar taste or competition Irom the
movies alone. Limited budgets, lack oI lead time, and the diIIiculty
oI attracting appropriate singers also inIluenced programming. The
84. Avenir du 1onkin, 5 January 1910.
85. GGI 17848: Letter Irom Bourrin to the Governor General Beaudoin, 19
February 1923.
86. See the comments in the Indochine republicaine, 2 December 1925 and 21
December 1927. Both reviews point to the increased Irivolity oI postwar Iare.
87. On the change oI French taste in the 1920s, see James Harding, Folies de
Paris: 1he Rise and Fall of French Operetta (London: Chappell/Elm Tree, 1979),
166168.
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vast distances involved meant that the transportation oI the musi-
cians needed to mount an entire season oI demanding operas became
prohibitively expensive. Practical considerations regularly aIIected
all aspects oI a theatrical production and Iorced the entrepreneurs to
seek ways oI accommodating the special circumstances oI Indochina.
So, Irom the very Iirst season, compromises were made when per-
Iorming in Hanoi. For example, the list oI operas oIIered by the De
GreeI troupe in 1889which included La Fille du regiment, Le
Barbiere de Seville, and Faustseems ambitious at Iirst glance, but
they were all sung to simple piano accompaniments with extensive cuts.
Over time, the opera companies grew in size and mounted more
or less complete productions, but some limitations could not be
avoided. Although by 1900 an average troupe consisted oI roughly
thirty perIormers, that number included an 'orchestra oI between
Iive to seven members. This hodgepodge band usually comprised a
Iew violinists, a cellist, a Ilutist, and perhaps a cornet player. Even
later in the twentieth century, the instrumental Iorces remained mod-
est. Contracts between the city and impresarios Irom the late 1920s
and early 1930s only required an orchestra oI twelve, a total that in-
cluded the conductor and a pianist.
88
Despite their modest size and
lack oI balance, these lean ensembles occasionally managed to con-
vey a semblance oI an opera`s power.
89
More oIten, however, review-
ers carped about the low standards oI playing.
90
The small size oI the
theater orchestras was a result oI the dearth oI proIessional musicians
locally. Although private musical instruction was available, no gov-
ernment-sponsored conservatory aimed at instructing the local Viet-
namese in Western musical perIormance was established until 1927.
91
88. RSTNF 3619: Cahier des charges Ior 19301931, Article 14.
89. See, Ior example, the reviews in the Avenir du 1onkin, 22 November 1906,
16 January 1908, 7 February 1908, 8 February 1908, and 1314 March 1910.
90. A sampling oI negative reviews oI the orchestra are Iound in the Avenir du
1onkin, 1920 October 1908, 22 October 1908, 2627 October 1908, and 5 Novem-
ber 1909; and in the 1ribune indochinoise, 14 November 1902, 30 November 1902,
and 3 December 1902.
91. Mai Hanh, 'Thuc dan Phap danh chiem Ha-Noi va xay dung thanh pho
thuoc dia, in Lich su thu do Ha-Noi, ed. Tran Huy Lieu (Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Su
Hoc, 1960), 152153. For more detailed inIormation on the establishment oI Hanoi`s
conservatory, see GGI 51183 and 51186: Dossiers on public instruction, conserva-
tory oI music. The Iinancial crisis oI the 1930s ultimately resulted in the closing oI
this school.
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PerIorming groups like the Philharmonic Society included talented
amateurs, but there is no indication they were employed on a regular
basis to augment the meager size oI the orchestras.
92
Like the singers,
many oI the instrumentalists had to be recruited in and transported
Irom France, producing perennial headaches Ior both the theatrical
commission and that year`s impresario. Every year, the theater direc-
tors struggled to attract talented perIormers into making the month-
long journey to Indochina Ior the six-month season.
These diIIiculties were compounded by Iinancial arrangements
imposed by the cities oI Hanoi and Haiphong. The theatrical subven-
tion was paid to entrepreneurs in installments, and those installments
began only aIter the troupe arrived in Tonkin. Thus, the logistics and
the costs involved in this enterprise taxed even the most organized oI
managers, and it is not surprising that the yearly turnover in person-
nel produced uneven results with respect to quality. The city, how-
ever, had Iew alternatives. Even iI it had possessed the Iinancial
strength to maintain a permanent, resident troupe, it is unlikely that
the best musicians would have remained in Hanoi Ior long. The lack
oI opportunity Ior advancement within the colony would have se-
verely limited a perIormer`s musical career. Ambitious and talented
singers would do better to move on.
The extreme diIIiculty oI attracting suitable perIormers within
the time and budget constraints imposed by the colony occasionally
resulted in the cancellation oI an entire season, an embarrassing out-
come that occurred in 1910, only one year beIore the new theater
opened. During the summer oI 1910, Diane Gay-Cave, who had di-
rected the Hanoi Theater since 1907, arranged Ior a French agent to
hire a troupe oI perIormers Ior the Iollowing year.
93
Initially the re-
ports Irom France were encouraging. According to a local newspa-
per, the entire troupe had been assembled by the end oI August, and
92. There are a Iew reIerences to enlarged orchestras in newspaper reviews, but
they include little detailed inIormation. See, Ior example, the Avenir du 1onkin, 18
March 1910.
93. Not only had Diane Gay-Cave (stage name Mme Kenn) been director since
1907, she also had perIormed in Hanoi as an actress and singer as early as 1902. See
the 1ribune indochinoise, 8 October 1902. Her perIormances receive special men-
tion in the 1ribune indochinoise, 16 November and 21 November 1902; and later in
the Avenir du 1onkin, 7 April 1906. Her soubrette roles were a particular Iavorite
with Hanoi audiences.
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the perIormers were to leave Marseilles Ior Hanoi on September 30.
94
On October 7, the same newspaper optimistically listed the names oI
the singers, but twelve days later Gay-Cave abruptly oIIered her resig-
nation to the theatrical commission. Owing to a serious Iinancial short-
Iall, as well as eleventh-hour decisions by some singers to pull out oI
the troupe, she Ielt incapable oI continuing as director oI the theater.
95
Over the course oI the next Iew weeks, gossip circulated in Hanoi con-
cerning the aIIair while the government considered its options. A ru-
mor spread in the last days oI October and early November that a re-
duced company would be arriving within the month and that an abbre-
viated season would be oIIered.
96
UnIortunately, when these perIorm-
ers Iinally arrived, the size oI the group was deemed insuIIicient: They
were compensated Ior their travel time and promptly sent back to France.
The story oI the canceled season oI 19101911 illustrates the
Iragility oI these theatrical enterprises. Similar cancellations occurred
as a result oI World War I and the Iinancial crisis oI the 1930s. It was
not uncommon Ior the theater to sit dark Ior long stretches oI time.
97
At such moments, the auditorium oIIered colonists a mocking re-
minder oI the disadvantages Hanoi Iaced with respect to its cosmo-
politan aspirations. Even during the most successIul oI seasons, the
theater was only in use Ior roughly three oI the six months; the rest oI
the time, the troupe was perIorming in Haiphong.
98
The critics who
had complained oI the theater`s size and expense had been correct:
94. Avenir du 1onkin, 16 September 1910.
95. GGI 17840: Dossier on Gay-Cave; and the Avenir du 1onkin, 19 October 1910.
96. Avenir du 1onkin, 21 October 1910, 22 October 1910, 4 November 1910,
and 5 November 1910.
97. Following the opening oI the new theater in 1911, it remained in use until
autumn oI 1914, when World War I led to the cancelation oI the 19141915 season.
See GGI 17840: Dossiers on various matters concerning theater in Hanoi and
Haiphong, 19001919. The theater was used only Ior occasional perIormances until
1920, when regular seasons were renewed. See GGI 17842: Dossier Ior 19201921
season. Regular seasons continued until 1929, when the season was canceled owing
to lack oI Iunds. See GGI 45624: Dossier Ior 19291930 season; and the Bulletin
municipal de la Jille de Hanoi, 27 February 1929, 245249. Although there was a
19301931 season, made possible in part by money saved by the cancellation oI the
previous season, no Iurther regular seasons were scheduled, owing to the deepening
Iinancial crisis oI the 1930s. See RSTNF 3619: Contracts and correspondence Ior
19301931 and 19311932; GGI 45630: Dossier Ior 19321933 season; and GGI
45631: Dossier Ior 19311932 season.
98. In the 1920s it was not uncommon Ior the theater season to last just Iour months.
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Its extravagance was unnecessary considering the existing conditions
and practical needs oI the community.
The vainglorious importation oI opera to Hanoi also reveals that
genre`s signiIicance to the French colonials. At one level, the deci-
sion to maintain an opera season and to build the municipal theater in
the Iace oI so many obstacles indicated the persistence oI an
assimilationist ideology within the colony. Certainly the theater, the
most grandiose oI Hanoi`s architectural monuments, embodied the
local government`s attempt to make the city French, at least in ap-
pearance. However, assimilation alone Iails to answer all questions
related to opera in Hanoi. Most maniIestations oI assimilation within
Vietnam were oI a more practical nature and, no matter how grand in
conception, they were produced with much less diIIiculty and ex-
pense. Even the large Western-style theaters in Saigon and Haiphong
were built without comparable problems or debate. Yet invoking the
tenets oI associationism oIIers little help by way oI explanation. Al-
though the theater and the opera season were occasionally justiIied
by pointing to their educational Iunctions, scant attention was paid to
how the building and the works perIormed within it would instruct
those who were not already interested in and committed to French
culture. As a result, claims that the presence oI opera and drama helped
to develop the colony, guiding it to maturity, ring hollow.
99
OI course,
non-Western members oI the audience are occasionally mentioned in
accounts oI perIormances, but the limited reIerences to the theater in
the Vietnamese-language press suggests that the majority oI the local
Vietnamese were indiIIerent to it.
100
Vietnamese government oIIi-
cials and Francophile collaborators would have attended, but aside
Irom these groups there is little evidence oI widespread interest in the
theater.
101
Even Vietnamese members oI the municipal council ap-
pear to have viewed matters relating to the theater as outside their
concern. Their participation in the decade-long debate over the con-
99. GGI 17848: Letter Irom Bourrin to the governor general, 19 February 1923. Claude
Bourrin, who was a dedicated supporter oI importing opera to Hanoi, doubted the theater
troupes served much oI an educational Iunction, but suggested that the theater helped pro-
mote commerce by creating a Iashionable bustle (animation mondaine).
100. The newspaper Avenir du 1onkin, on 18 December 1910, listed a special
price category Ior indegenes, suggesting there was some interest among the general
Vietnamese public or that such interest was being encouraged. Much research, how-
ever, remains to be done in this area oI study.
101. Mai Hanh, 'Thuc dan Phap, 144155.
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struction oI the theater was minimal, and Ior the most part, they main-
tained a clear policy oI 'neutrality with respect to it.
102
This apathy
toward the theater belied its useIulness as a tool oI cultural propa-
ganda in particular, and betrayed widespread Vietnamese skepticism
about the vaunted beneIits oI colonization more generally. This is
reIlected in the name oI the theater itselI: In Vietnamese, it was com-
monly reIerred to as Nha hat tay (Western Theater) as opposed to
Nha hat thanh pho (Municipal Theater), thereby emphasizing its Ior-
eign status.
103
In short, the introduction oI opera to Tonkin revealed
the Iutility oI the mission civilisatrice itselI and exposed the limita-
tions oI both assimilation and association.
Large ideological concerns, however, do not completely explain
Hanoi`s theater. Opera and opera house must be understood within
the context oI the expatriate experience as well. The French colonists
who lived there built and maintained the theater because they Ielt a
deep need to do so. Claude Bourrin, who lived in Tonkin Irom 1898
to 1908, attested to the French colonial craving Ior theatrical diver-
sion: 'The theater . . . truly was the dominant preoccupation oI every-
body; this is quite understandable since it was, with the exception oI
some charity balls, the only evening distraction oI the winter sea-
son.
104
The social liIe oI French colonists, thereIore, revolved around
the theater, partly Irom a desire Ior recreation and to escape the mo-
notony oI colonial existence.
105
The opera season gave colonists a
connection to French culture, in all its grandeur, within Indochina: It
both justiIied and ennobled their presence in the region. In this way,
the theater served as a mark oI distinction, providing the French com-
munity with an identity that placed them in a position oI privilege
102. For the 'neutrality maintained by the Vietnamese members oI the mu-
nicipal council, see the Avenir du 1onkin, 67 February 1911.
103. Long Chuong, 'Hai kich Moliere lan dau-tien dien tren san-khau Viet
Nam, ('Les Comedies de Moliere jouees pour la premiere Iois sur la scene
vietnamienne), in Anh huong cua san khau Phap voi san khau Jiet Nam (Influence
du theatre franais sur lart dramatique vietnamien), (Hanoi: Vin Sn Khu, 1998),
335. See also reIerences to the Nha hat tay in the newspaper Bao dong Phap.
104. 'Le thetre . . . etait vraiment pour tout le monde la preoccupation
dominante; cela se conoit puisque cètait, avec quelques bals de charite, la seule
distraction nocturne de la saison d`hiver. Bourrin, Chose et Gens, 85. See also the
article on 'La Passion du thetre by Gabrielle Varin in the Avenir du 1onkin, 19
November 1909.
105. Avenir du 1onkin, 5 April 1906.
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vis-a-vis the Vietnamese majority. Yet, like other European social
conventions the French maintained, theater-going not only distin-
guished them Irom colonized subjects, it also insulated them Irom
their immediate surroundings.
106
The result was a closed, selI-absorbed
social world in which gossip and pettiness Ilourished.
107
This situa-
tion made the isolation oI the French population more palpable, an
unIortunate consequence. The theater was a byproduct oI that
community`s attempt to overcome its separation Irom and nostalgia
Ior what it had leIt behind, but opera, which was expected to mediate
between the metropole and the colony and draw them closer, ulti-
mately reinIorced Hanoi`s peripheral status. The brevity oI the the-
ater season, the eclectic mix oI music and drama, with its emphasis
on low-brow entertainment, as well as the problems oI recruiting and
conveying perIormers to and Irom Indochina collectively reminded
the French colonists how Iar they were Irom the very culture with
which they identiIied. The distancesphysical, social, and cultural
that separated the colony Irom France grew even more apparent. Thus,
in addition to symbolizing imperial hubris and aggrandizement, the
theater oIIered a constant reminder oI the shortcomings oI colonial
liIe and cast doubts on oIIicial justiIications Ior the French presence
in Vietnam. The size, location, Iunction, and opulence oI the build-
ing heralded the power oI empire, but its irregular use and mediocre
perIormances in combination with a lack oI Vietnamese interest dis-
credited it as an emblem oI authority. Ultimately, opera in Hanoi
dramatized the Ilaws oI the French imperial perIormance, and its pres-
ence raised questions about colonialism, rather than providing answers.
106. Gaston Cahen, 'Hanoi: The Recent TransIormations oI Tonkin`s Capital,
in Cities of Nineteenth-Century Colonial Jietnam: Hanoi, Saigon, Hue and 1he
Champa Ruins (Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1999), 205235, esp. 212. See also
Gilles de Gantes, 'Le Militaire, la Iemme, le Ionctionnaire: La Societe europeene
dans les villes dÌndochine, 19001920, in Modernisation et colonisation, un mariage
improbable? Le Jiet-Nam au XXeme siecle (Aix-en-Provence, France: Institut
d`Histoire Comparee des Civilisations, Univ. de Provence, 1995): 3140, esp. 3536.
107. A number oI visitors reIer to this characteristic oI the Hanoi`s French
community. See Chevallier, Lettres, 63; Brieux, Joyages, 5761. Local authors
mocked the selI-absorption oI Hanoi`s French citizens in a one-act play entitled
1onkinons' The title is a neologism that transIorms the name oI the protectorate into
a verb that means to speak oI everything having to do with the colony. See Thu Vin
Quc Gia Vit Nam (National Library oI Vietnam, Hanoi). M2905 (1): 1onkinons'
Revue panachee: France et 1onkin (Hanoi: Imprimerie F.-H. Schneider, 1907), 12.
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