Viet Nam News
HCM CITY— A book on the 58-year-long career of late theatre actress Nam Sa Dec, a guru of cai luong (reformed opera) and hat boi or tuong (classical drama), has been released in HCM City.
Nu Nghe Si Tien Phong Nam Sa Dec va Nghe Thuat San Khau Nam Bo (Pioneering Actress Nam Sa Dec and the Traditional Theatre of the South), written by Thien Moc Lan and published by HCM City General Publishing House, features the development of cai luong and hat boi, genres of traditional theatre in the southern and central regions between the 1930s and 1980s.
It highlights the love and devotion for traditional theatre of Nam Sa Dec, one of the region’s pioneering performers.
It includes 225 pages and dozens of professional black-and-white and colour photographs of Nam Sa Dec and her colleagues who played an important role in developing the southern traditional theatre.
The book will help readers, particularly youth, learn more about cai luong and hat boi, and their status in Vietnamese theatre.
Born in 1907 in a traditional family in Sa Dec (now Dong Thap Province), Nam Sa Dec (real name Nguyen Kim Chung) began her career when she was a child.
She learned the art on her own and became a bright star after working for leading troupes such as Tran Dat, Bau Bon, Huynh Ky and Song Phung.
She performed leading roles in several famous plays, working with late People’s Artist Diep Lang, People’s Artist Dinh Bang Phi and composer Nguyen Vinh Bao, all gurus of cai luong and hat boi.
She offered a new performance style in hat boi that helped popularise the art during the 1930s to 1960s.
Her voice and dance skills left a strong impression on audiences.
In 1947, she lived in Sai Gon and married to Vuong Hong Sen, the greatest, most beloved scholar of southern Vietnamese culture. She later became involved in theatrical drama and films.
In the early 1980s, she played in winning-prize films directed by talented artists Hong Sen, Huy Thanh, Ho Quang Minh and Viet Linh.
She died in 1988.
The book, Nu Nghe Si Tien Phong Nam Sa Dec va Nghe Thuat San Khau Nam Bo, describes how the traditional theatre of the south is still alive after 100 years through the career of Nam Sa Dec. — VNS