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Tuồng cải lương (, Hán-Nôm: 傱改良) often referred to as Cải lương (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, hát tuồng (a classical theatre form based on Chinese opera), and modern spoken drama.
Cải lương can be compared to a sort of play with the added aspect of Vọng cổ. This term literally means "nostalgia for the past", it is a special type of singing with the background music often being the đàn tranh zither or the đàn ghi-ta (Vietnamized guitar). In a typical cải lương play, the actresses and actors would use a combination of regular spoken dialogue and vọng cổ to express their thoughts and emotions. Cải lương normally highlights/praises traditional Vietnamese moral values. There are mainly two genres of cải lương: ancient stories ( tuồng cổ) and societal ( xã hội). The societal genre (cải lương xã hội) consists of stories about modern Vietnamese society. The plots deal with a romantic love story blended with family or social relationships. The stories also explore cultural norms, social norms, and other aspects of Vietnamese society, e.g. Đời Cô Lựu, Tô Ánh Nguyệt. This genre can be somehow described as tragedy, but with a happy ending. However, a few societal plays such as "Ra Giêng Anh Cưới Em" are comedic and light-hearted.
In the ancient stories, the actor/actress dresses in an old fashioned costume. The plot is based on a tale, legend or historical story of the feudal system, where kings and warriors still existed. For example, Bên Cầu Dệt Lụa, Lục Vân Tiên, Tiếng Trống Mê Linh etc. Many plots come from Chinese historic or ancient legends. Lương Sơn Bá-Chúc Anh Đài is based on the Chinese legend of butterfly lovers. In ancient stories, Hồ Quảng, a genre of Chinese opera may be mixed. Hence, some ancient stories may be called Cải lương Hồ Quảng, which is more like a Musical theatre. In addition to regular speech, ca cải lương, and vọng cổ, several melodies are incorporated into the play. These melodies are reused through different plays, however the words are changed to fit the context of the plays. Ancient stories can be characterized by beautiful, elaborate costumes comprising beautiful and colourful dress pieces; large, beautiful glittery hairpieces; elaborate warrior armour; and elaborate warrior head pieces.
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