Keeping the traditional stage "fire" alive

With the desire to actively contribute to making Cheo art soon become an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, in parallel with the vibrant activities of mass art clubs in the province today, the team of artists and actors of Thai Binh Cheo Theater are also making efforts every day to keep the "fire" of the stage, to keep the "soul" of traditional art in the face of competitive pressure from modern forms of entertainment.

The Cheo play "Legendary Pearls" is performed by the artists of Group 2, Cheo Theater.

Rowing brings the breath of contemporary life

On the evening of September 18, a large audience and art lovers came to Thai Binh Cheo Theater to watch the premiere of the Cheo play on a modern theme called "The Pain of Mother's Love". This is a story about a mother who devoted her whole life to caring for and raising her three children to adulthood. However, when the mother became old and weak, the children, due to petty and selfish calculations, forgot their filial piety and pushed each other to take care of and support their mother. Humiliated because she could not live with her children, the mother went begging to make a living, and was taken care of and protected by a strange street singer. While their mother was still with them, the children fought over who would gain or lose, not fulfilling their duties as children, but on the day that was supposed to be the anniversary of their mother's death, the children held a grand memorial service, inviting all their relatives to eat and drink without thinking of looking for their mother. The mother returned to her son’s house that day in the role of a street singer, singing songs about motherly love. From here, the play brings many unexpected, captivating details that captivate the audience, while reminding each person to always be filial, respectful to their parents, and grateful to their roots, thereby forming the standards and values of a happy family, contributing to building a humane society.

Watching the play “The Pain of Mother’s Love” from the audience, People’s Artist Van Mon, now over 80 years old, could not help but be moved. He believes that the love and passion of today’s generation of artists and actors will contribute to preserving traditional art.

People's Artist Van Mon said: It can be said that Thai Binh has the strongest number of actors and musicians since 1959, with many good voices, showing that the Theater has tried very hard. However, currently, under the influence of many other genres, Cheo is facing difficulties. This is the time when professional Cheo artists must make great efforts, especially now that we are in great need of modern plays that reflect people's feelings. We must have plays that reflect modern life today, where material things are improving but human feelings are showing signs of decline, to sound the alarm about the need to preserve morality and human affection.

The play "The Pain of Mother's Love" has many emotional scenes for the audience.

Spreading the love of traditional art

The concerns of People's Artist Van Mon about the difficulties of traditional theater in the current period are also the common concerns of many artists and actors of Thai Binh Cheo Theater. Along with the restoration of ancient Cheo plays to preserve traditional values and pass on the profession to young actors, there is the launching of new plays to meet the tastes of the audience. People's Artist Vu Ngoc Cai, Director of Thai Binh Cheo Theater, said that in this period, traditional theater must operate more professionally in all stages from choosing issues, developing scripts to staging, acting, stage design, sound, lighting... all need to be invested in depth and breakthrough but still have to preserve the "soul" of traditional art of the nation.

Compared to the time before the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, traditional theater is facing many difficulties, especially the number of performances is not as much as before. However, artists always strive to maintain the direction of preserving and promoting art by persistently training and educating the next generation of actors, actively improving the quality of art, meeting the information needs and aesthetic tastes of the audience.

Meritorious Artist Tran Anh Dien, Head of Group 2, Thai Binh Cheo Theater shared: Actually, in the most difficult times, I have to love Thai Binh province's Cheo singing even more, especially Thai Binh has its own unique style of Cheo singing. Serving the people and the audience is the greatest happiness for an artist.

Along with the efforts of the art units, it is hoped that in order to preserve and promote traditional art, art troupes will have more regular performances, not only taking place on the stage of the theater or at festivals but also in central areas, which can attract the attention of the public. Performing more often also makes artists love their profession more, be more dedicated and attached to their profession, and at the same time, the public, especially today's youth, will have more opportunities to access and experience traditional art.