The loving journey of "tin soldier" Thien Nhan to the musical stage

After the documentary "Thien Nhan's Fire" brought tears to many audiences, the special journey of mother and daughter Mai Anh - Thien Nhan once again sowed loving emotions in the hearts of the audience in the musical "The Five-Colored Stone".

The story of "tin soldier" Thien Nhan became the inspiration for the musical "The Five-Colored Stone"

The journey began in 2006, when Ms. Tran Mai Anh adopted and tried her best to find ways to treat Thien Nhan - a child who was abandoned in a banana garden, with many parts of his body eaten by wild animals. For more than a decade, the small mother traveled with Thien Nhan across many continents in the hope of giving her child a more fulfilling life.

And that journey not only became a "miracle" for Thien Nhan but also brought much hope to many children with genital disabilities across the country. These were once difficult-to-talk-about disabilities and there were also few treatment methods in the country. The program "Thien Nhan & Friends" was born from that, providing opportunities for examination and genital reconstruction surgery for thousands of disadvantaged children.

A portion of the musical's proceeds will be donated to the "Thien Nhan & Friends" Fund.

"The story of Mai Anh and Thien Nhan deeply moved me, urging me to convey it through the artistic language of musicals. I believe that art, especially music, will become the fastest way to reach the hearts of the audience, continuing the journey of spreading faith in goodness" - general director Cao Ngoc Anh shared.

The musical has many scenes that touch the hearts of the audience, such as the scene where Mother Coi stands anxiously outside the operating room corridor while the doctors are fighting for her child's life. Or the scene where Doctor Greig (Thien Nhan's first surgeon in the play, a character inspired by the child's real-life adoptive father) has to stop the operation at times due to exhaustion, but when he steps away from the operating table, for a moment he meets Mother Coi's eyes, he finds invisible motivation to continue working...

Musician Minh Dao said that all the music is new compositions specifically for the play. In particular, works such as "Borderless Heart", "Green Dream", "Fragrant Heart"... combined with modern music played live by the young band Chicktown throughout the play bring many emotions to the audience, depicting the growing up period of the boy Thien Nhan. It is a pure but also thorny journey when the boy has to overcome the looks of concern, the sarcasm to grow up, integrate and nurture his belief in goodness.

Meritorious Artist Nguyen Si Tien, Director of the Youth Theater, said this is the next effort in staging purely Vietnamese musicals, created, staged and performed by Vietnamese people with content built from Vietnamese stories, instead of reenacting successful "derivative" works from around the world.

Ms. Mai Anh (middle) said that Thien Nhan is 17 years old this year and studies hard to achieve his goal of getting a scholarship to study abroad.

Ms. Tran Mai Anh, founder and director of the program "Thien Nhan & Friends" shared that her story is not new, but there are still many mothers like her, whose children are missing parts of their bodies and want their children to have a better life.

"We hope that each audience member who comes to the musical can also bring home a five-colored stone for themselves," said Ms. Tran Mai Anh.

Part of the musical's revenue will be donated to the "Thien Nhan & Friends" Fund in November 2023, where many children will continue to have their lives changed by the hands of loving and kind-hearted doctors.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/san-khau/cau-chuyen-chu-linh-chi-thien-nhan-len-san-khau-nhac-kich-20231025070612857.htm