Viet Nam News
HCM CITY — Dozens of cai luong (reformed opera) and artists from traditional troupes in HCM City will stage performances next week to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of cai luong.
The commemoration begins on September 21, or August 12 of the lunar calendar.
The Le Hoang Drama Stage in Binh Thanh District will offer a special show called Tam Nghe Dang To (Devotion) featuring extracts from popular plays written by Tran Huu Trang, Ha Trieu and Hoa Phuong, well known as cai luong gurus.
The event aims to raise money to help poor artists.
The show will feature veteran artists Truong Son, Kim Tu Long, Phuong Loan, together with young stars Vo Minh Lam and Trinh Trinh.
"Our art is for poor theatre actors, especially the elderly and backstage workers who have devoted their life to the art," said actress Kim Ngan of Le Hoang Drama Stage, who is the event’s organiser.
The Hong Lien Theatre in District 6 will organise a worship ceremony on September 21.
The event’s theme, Mot Doi Nghe Thuat (Love for Cai Luong), is meant to honour and encourage theatre artists who have devoted their life to preserve and develop the art.
Meritorious Artist Vu Linh and Thoai My will be featured.
The artists will perform with their students, young actors Dien Trung and Thanh Thao, in a famous play on motherhood titled Bong Hong Cai Ao (The Rose for Mother), a work written by Hoang Kham.
The organisers have invited more than 300 guests, mostly poor people, to attend the show.
Artists from the Hoang Thai Thanh Drama Troupe will offer a new play on September 23.
Veteran actors Thanh Hoi and Ai Nhu will stage Sai Gon Co Mot Nga Tu (A Quarter of Sai Gon), a drama featuring social issues by scriptwriter Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc.
The 60-minute work highlights themes of love and compassion.
A buy-one, get-one promotion is being offered.
A group of young artists from the Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre will travel to perform in the rural districts of Can Gio, Binh Chanh, Nha Be, Cu Chi and Hoc Mon.
They will offer free shows at outdoor stages located in cultural houses during the day.
Extracts from popular cai luong operas like Huyen Thoai Nguoi Me (The Legend of Mother) and Ben Dong Nhi Nguyet (Living on the Nhi Nguyet River), about parents’ love and offerings to their children, will be staged.
Repaying their ancestors
Dozens of veteran and young actors in the city and neighbouring provinces will visit the Artists’ Pagoda in Go Vap District to participate in free performances every night during the week of the event.
Following tradition, the artists will show their deep respect for late actress Phung Ha, a great symbol of cai luong and also founder of the pagoda.
“We will donate funds for the pagoda, the only one of its kind in the city that contains a cemetery devoted to cai luong and tuong (classical drama) performers,” said young actress Thuy Ngan of the Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre.
Ha, who began her careeer in 1923, worked for the Tai Dong Ban, a leading cai luong troupe in My Tho Province (now Tien Giang Province), the cradle of cai luong art.
With her strong voice and performance skills, Ha quickly became a bright star on stage.
She performed in many plays featuring the tragedy of Vietnamese women under feudalism, focusing on beautiful and virtuous girls whose suffering was caused by village officials and landowners.
She also worked hard to train younger colleagues. Many of her students, including the late actress Thanh Nga and younger performers Thanh Thanh Tam and Thoai My, both won top prizes at national competitions and festivals.
Ha spent her savings to build the Artists’ Pagoda in 1958. It serves as a place of rest for 1,000 theatre performers who were once stars on the stage but now need financial support.— VNS