Three plays: "Obsession" (Youth World Stage), "Heroic Hotel" and "By the Silk Weaving Bridge" (Tran Huu Trang Theater) premiered to the audience in December 2023, all directed by People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau. Of which, the two classic cai luong scripts "Heroic Hotel" and "By the Silk Weaving Bridge" have been renewed, but the 2023 version still has its own unique mark, winning over the audience.
Impressive career achievements
With over 40 years of dedication to the stage, it is estimated that People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau has directed more than 250 plays of many genres: reformed opera, opera, drama, cheo... He is still energetic and talented, but is burdened with worries about the stage's appearance as he approaches the difficult year of 2024.
In addition to his career as a stage director, People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau also participates in the field of education. After graduating from the second directing class of the Stage Arts School II (now the University of Theatre and Cinema in Ho Chi Minh City), he was retained to teach. He has contributed to training many excellent students such as: People's Artist Hong Van, Meritorious Artist Trong Nam, director Ton That Can, artists Quoc Thao, Phuoc Sang, Mai Dung, Phuong Binh, Dinh Toan...
People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau
Most of the students instructed by People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau have the skills to be the general commander of all creative stages of the play. "He guided us to have an overall view and knew how to string together the entire development of the work. Therefore, each scene, from decoration to layout, exudes the meaning that the work wants to reflect" - People's Artist Hong Van expressed.
People in the industry said that People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau read a lot. He studied and researched a lot of information about literature and history to improve his knowledge. He also always reminded and urged his students to be bold and go beyond their safety limits to increasingly improve their professional capacity and reputation.
Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong commented that the professional achievements of People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau are truly admirable. He left his mark through simplicity but also lyricism and depth. After his first play "The remaining moments" (based on the literary work of writer Nguyen Manh Tuan) was broadcast by HTV, he rose to fame, not only doing his professional work well but also doing his management work with dedication.
Caring for the young generation
According to experts, one of the extremely important roles in the artistic quality of a play is the director.
Ho Chi Minh City's theater scene is currently facing many difficulties. The most difficult of which is the inadequacy in building a team of successor directors. "It can be said that the current generation of young directors is still not capable of bringing the theater scene out of its crisis" - Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong confided.
Perhaps People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau has seen and understood the above concerns of his colleagues who are passionate about the stage. As Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Theatre Association, he has pioneered the establishment of the Stage Training Center. A training class for young directors has been opened. During the classes, he has "poured out all his heart", his capital, and his stage experience to pass on to the younger generation.
"If we don't do it right away, we won't have time to have a successor. I'm always worried about this and decided to roll up my sleeves and do it, considering it the responsibility of a teacher, a predecessor, towards young directors and towards the stage career" - People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau confided.
A scene from the classic cai luong play "The Glorious Hotel" directed by People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau
People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau said he is trying to pass on his experience to the next generations (actors and directors). "I hope that young people will have a breakthrough and perform well professionally at the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival in 2024 - a playground that gives priority to new works" - he believes.
People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau also takes care of the writing stage. Following the "Stage Script Writing Camp" organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association in Da Lat in June 2023, we witnessed him carefully reading and giving responsible comments on all 21 selected scripts.
Author Tran Van Hung was impressed: "Through each suggestion of Mr. Tran Ngoc Giau, the authors discovered many things, then changed and edited. A series of works were selected to be staged on many stages. One of the new plays introduced to the public is "Am Anh" by Dang Thanh Nga, which was also conceived at the Da Lat creative camp."
According to artist Minh Nhi (Truong Hung Minh Stage), the play "Blood Silk" by Le Quoc Nam received a few comments from People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau. However, this play has changed its appearance, becoming more lively, lyrical, dramatic, attractive and "selling tickets like crazy".
People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau acknowledged: "It is time to have a strategic and fundamental investment to develop the team of young directors in Ho Chi Minh City, for the sustainable development of the country's stage. When stage directors are professionally trained, many professional directors will appear, positively impacting the stage life through new forms of staging."
"In order to create necessary professional experience and seek out talented young directors, People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau has invited directors from many provinces and cities to spend their weekends in Ho Chi Minh City so he can share his experience.
People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau also participates in writing and editing scripts; participating in review boards and evaluating new scripts. Despite being busy with professional work, he still gives special priority to activities at the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association - from working with the Friendship Committee to take care of elderly artists, renovating pagodas and Artists' Cemetery to a series of topics, seminars, and talks... of the Theory and Criticism Committee.
He also pioneered in opening training courses in the field of magic. In the near future, he will write a second book on "Ho Chi Minh City's Cai Luong Theater from 1975 to 2025". The first book, edited by him, was recently awarded the B prize by the Central Council of Theory and Criticism.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/nsnd-tran-ngoc-giau-dau-dau-tim-kiem-the-he-ke-thua-196231209192737234.htm
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