EUGENE–Nhá Hát Kich Viêt Nam (The Central Dramatic Company of Vietnam) will present a single performance of "Hôn Truong Ba Da Háng Thit (Truong Ba’s Soul [in] the Butcher’s Skin)" at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, in the Robinson Theatre at Villard Hall, 1109 Old Campus Lane at the University of Oregon.

Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students.

The Vietnamese dramatists’ UO stop is part of a West Coast U.S. tour sponsored by the Vietnam-America Theatre Exchange at Pacific University in Forest Grove and supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation. Additional tour sponsors include Korean Airlines and NIKE.

This marks the first American tour for the Central Dramatic Company after the troupe traveled to Moscow, China, Hong Kong and Europe in recent years. Performances are scheduled at several universities between Los Angeles and Seattle.

"Truong Ba’s Soul [in] the Butcher’s Skin" is immensely popular in Vietnam. In it, two celestial gods carelessly take the life of a kind and gentle gardener, Truong Ba. After his widow complains, the gods agree to transmigrate Truong Ba’s soul into the body of a butcher who has just died. Truong Ba’s soul then begins a strange new life in the butcher’s skin, a life torn by the implacable conflict between body and soul. This funny and poignant play provides an amusing critique of the ludicrous inefficiency of bureaucracies, while providing insight into the clash between traditional and contemporary Vietnamese customs.

Vietnam’s Central Dramatic Company is currently celebrating its 46th anniversary. Since its inception in 1952, the company has dedicated itself to discovering and developing a national identity and aesthetic for modern Vietnamese drama. The company was founded by two of Vietnam’s most famous playwrights who were leaders of the "New Literary" movement of the 1920s. Since the mid-1950s, the company has concentrated on serious dramatic works, integrating elements from traditional Vietnamese conventions with the modern influences of Stanislavski, Brecht and Artaud.

The play will be performed entirely in Vietnamese. It will be accompanied by English supertitles to help U.S. audiences appreciate its captivating characters and exquisite lyricism.

Tickets for "Truong Ba’s Soul [in] the Butcher’s Skin" can be purchased through the ticket office at the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave. on the UO campus, or call (541) 346-4363. Tickets also are on sale at the University Theatre box office in the lobby of Robinson Theatre or call 346-4191.

Robinson Theatre is located at the Northwest corner of the university campus, on East 11th Avenue near Kincaid Street. Plenty of free parking is available after 6 p.m. in the UO lot at the corner of East 11th and Kincaid.

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