Ho Chi Minh City's Cai Luong stage strives to find creativity

More than 20 plays will compete in the 2024 National Cai Luong Festival directed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People's Committee of Can Tho City, implemented by the Department of Performing Arts, which will open from October 25 to November 12 at the Performance House, City Cultural Center, Cai Khe Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City.

Towards exploration and innovation

On the evening of September 30, Hoang Hai Artist Group - a socialized unit performed a review of the Vietnamese historical opera "The person carrying 9 death sentences" (author Pham Van Quy, adapted by Vo Tu Uyen, directed by Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha) at Tran Huu Trang Theater. Previously, the operas "New Year's Eve", "The Legend of Ancient Co Loa", "Gia Dinh Citadel's Epic Song"... were premiered, attracting the attention of experts and audiences.

Currently, some plays are still on the rehearsal stage such as: "Red Coral", "Shining Mountains and Rivers", "Hero", "Source Rain"... Besides, director Le Nguyen Dat's team also participated in staging 2 plays for the provincial troupe including Tay Do Theater and Dong Nai Art Theater.

Never before has the stage been so heated with a tight rehearsal schedule. This is considered a good sign for the reformed opera stage in Ho Chi Minh City after a period of time when public and private units performed old plays.

A scene from the Vietnamese historical opera "The Man with 9 Death Sentences" directed by Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha

Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong assessed that the festival aims to contribute to preserving and promoting the value of traditional Vietnamese art forms, especially Cai Luong art in the integration period. "Because of the integration efforts, the troupes have tried to find new things from scripts to performance forms. Thereby, discovering talents in traditional art; encouraging actors and artists to make contributions to the career of Cai Luong theater in Vietnam" - Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong commented.

For artists from socialized troupes, 2/3 of the plays participating in the festival are from Ho Chi Minh City, which is also an opportunity for management agencies to assess the current status of artists and actors, thereby proposing appropriate training and development solutions for this force in the coming time.

People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc said that the festival will create conditions for artists and actors from Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities across the country to exchange and learn, thereby cultivating and improving their expertise, and supplementing young and new resources for the art of reformed theater.

"Finding new forms in staging, finding new ways to bring cải lương closer to the values ​​of integration, applying technology, especially new ways to make cải lương music have a youthful, modern rhythm but still maintain its traditional character is a challenge for professionals. The city is a major cultural center, this year the festival has many art units from the city participating, proving the preparation to reach many new creations" - People's Artist Trần Minh Ngọc emphasized.

After the festival, promotion needs to be increased.

In order to prevent the festival from falling into a "hibernation" state after the exam season, the staged cai luong plays will be performed before and after the competition in Can Tho City. Artist Binh Tinh said that the play "Shining Mountains and Rivers" will be performed on the evening of October 5, then the play "The Legend of Ancient Co Loa" will be performed on the evening of October 6 to "measure" the audience's enthusiasm as well as listen to feedback on the two Vietnamese historical plays staged in a new style.

This time, Meritorious Artist Le Trung Thao decided to do "3 in 1" including: author, director and main actor in a play about the character Le Quynh to create a plus point for the effort to renew the cai luong stage through Vietnamese historical characters.

The post-festival issue has been thought of by artists and organizers, the play cannot be put in storage, but must be promoted. Director Meritorious Artist Le Nguyen Dat staged 3 cai luong plays this season: "Comrade", "Chat Ngoc Cam Thi Giang" and "Choi Sang Son Ha". Although he staged the plays for art units in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces, he also hopes to promote the work in Ho Chi Minh City, contributing to creating a boost for the cai luong stage to light up after the festival season.

What experts appreciate is that both public and private art units have devoted their efforts to bring results to training work. Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha shared: When staging the play "The Man with 9 Death Sentences", she focused on training young actors so that they were confident enough to take on difficult roles in a Vietnamese historical work.

Having successfully staged and achieved revenue and artistic quality for the plays: "Loyal Minister", "Gia Dinh Citadel's Epic", "The Singer", "Xeda Girl"... and now "The One with 9 Death Sentences", she hopes to have more talented Vietnamese historical actors and strive to create more creativity for her artistic portfolio.

Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong analyzed: "Participating in the festival is an opportunity for art units in Ho Chi Minh City to achieve three goals: training new human resources; identifying a team of young authors, directors, musicians, stage designers, and costume designers; and contributing to improving the writing skills of the team of cai luong theater critics.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/san-dien-cai-luong-tp-hcm-no-luc-tim-toi-sang-tao-196241001202804418.htm