HCM CITY — For the first time, cai luong (reformed theatre) and plays are on a par with TV series at the Mai Vang awards competition.
This year, four shows have been nominated for the prestigious awards, which are presented by Nguoi Lao Dong(The Labourer) newspaper in HCM City.
Previously, it was an unwritten rule that only movies and their performers were highlighted at the awards show.
This year, however, the theatre is expected to break with that tradition.
The annual Mai Vang (Yellow Ochna) Award was first organised in 1995 and became popular among several million Nguoi Lao Dong readers, many of whom farmers and workers who voted via mail or internet on their favourite singers, composers, fashion designers, movie and theatre artists and directors, and entertainment programmes.
While the organisers are still working hard to count the votes, people are predicting wins for one cai luong show, Cau Tho Yen Ngua (The Line of Poetry), and two drama plays Oan Gia (Family Foe) and Ong Ngoai, Ba Noi (Maternal Grandfather, Paternal Grandmother).
Cau Tho Yen Ngua, a production by young director Vu Minh, aimed to revive cai luong's traditional style of music, singing and dancing rather than cater to young audiences' tastes.
It, nonetheless, has a good chance to capture the top award for the year's Best Cai Luong Show.
The historical show featuring the life of General Ly Thuong Kiet, a national hero under the Ly dynasty (1025-1105), is also expected to take home the award for best cai luong direction.
Before being nominated, Cau Tho Yen Ngua had earned fans' and theatre critics' praises when it was staged last July at Ben Thanh Theatre.
The work attracted dozens of veteran performers, including stars such as Thanh Tong, Bach Le and Ngoc Giau, who showed off their best to highlight the spirit of cai luong.
"Through my show, I hope the audiences, especially young people, will learn more about the art of cai luong, one of the South's traditional arts," said Vu Minh, the show's director and producer, and one of the city's young and promising talents.
The Mai Vang nominee for Best Drama, Oan Gia, portrays family conflicts in modern life.
The play is a co-production between young directors Xuan Trang and Diep Tien of the Phu Nhuan Drama Theatre.
Veteran director and theatre critic Ca Le Hong said Oan Gia had asked its audiences to look at different views of love, family and career.
"I was interested in the way Trang and Tien highlighted their messages to audiences through the stage. They mixed seriousness with comedy into their show," he said in a recent interview with Nguoi Lao Dong.
Hong's colleague, director-scriptwriter Tran Minh Ngoc, said he voted for Ong Ngoai, Ba Noi, a comedy by veteran director Tran Ngoc Giau of the Nu Cuoi Moi (New Smile) Entertainment Company.
Although the play focused on love, a formulaic, old and safe topic, it left a fresh impression on audiences.
In the play, Hoai Linh, one of the country's few professional comic actors, once again showed his acting skills.
His performance is expected to help him win his second Mai Vang prize for best comic actor.
The 2010 Mai Vang Award's vote counting will close next Monday and the presentation show will take place later this month. —VNS