Love Vietnamese history more through the play about Le Van Duyet

Reporter: The first time you played the main character in the Vietnamese historical play "Duc Thuong Cong Ta Quan Le Van Duyet - The person with 9 death sentences", how did you feel the psychological weight of the character affected you?

Actor Dinh Toan in the role of General Le Van Duyet. Photo: AN HOANG

- Artist DINH TOAN: Up to this point, the role is still a heavy pressure for me. The play has passed the review with full emotion. The actors are still practicing hard to prepare for the performance on the evening of April 10. What makes the actors happiest is that our efforts have been recognized, the review board has given good reviews, and there are positive comments from historians.

This is the main role in the first Vietnamese historical work that I have performed. I had a bit of an advantage when playing the role of Ta Quan Le Van Duyet, because since I was little, I often went to Lang Ong to play because my house was very close to this place. I also loved to study, so I searched for more information about the historical figure Le Van Duyet. When I grew up, I studied to be a tour guide, so I read a lot of Vietnamese historical documents. The role of Le Van Duyet gave me the opportunity to transform into a humane project of IDECAF Drama Theater.

What do you expect when this play is brought to schools as initially announced by IDECAF Drama Theater?

- IDECAF Drama Theater aims to invest in this play thoroughly. From stage design, costumes and acting, everything is carefully prepared. Costumes are made by artisans in the provinces, each costume from motifs to patterns, dragons and phoenixes are all exact details associated with the Nguyen Dynasty, the time of King Minh Mang. All of this investment is aimed at creating a certain aesthetic effect for the play with a contemporary artistic direction.

With a play duration of about 2 and a half hours, when brought to school, I believe that students will accept it and from there learn more about the data and events that have been summarized in the story. The script of the play is very tight in every detail, word, and historical event. I hope that through the play, which is properly invested and cared for down to the smallest detail, it will awaken students' pride in Vietnamese history, thereby helping them learn more about Vietnamese history, appreciate national history, and enhance their patriotism.

.Currently, the stage is full of entertainment, is it true that IDECAF Drama Theater accepts the game as a way to "go against the current" because the revenue will not be equal to the comedy plays currently performed at the theater?

- Introducing history is difficult, making Vietnamese historical drama for long-term performance is even more difficult. When reaching the audience and bringing it to schools, if the audience and students accept it, it is a 50% success. In fact, I hope that besides entertainment, this is a work that we persevere to achieve the humanistic goal: bringing Vietnamese historical drama together with life.

When advertising a Vietnamese historical play, the audience asked "Is it a sad play?", many people still like to watch comedy, causing the actors to get caught up in the joking way of acting, juggling laughter to satisfy the needs of the audience. But when we decided to act in a Vietnamese historical play, we did not joke, we were very serious because we appeared in a different mindset. Fortunately, the actors participating in this Vietnamese historical play were all aware, learned the lines and pondered each line.

Having acted in previous Vietnamese historical plays such as: "The Secret of Le Chi Garden", "A Thousand Years of Love", "The Holy King of the Le Dynasty", do you think the role of Le Van Duyet will be your new mark?

- What I most wish for is to spread national pride to theater audiences, especially young audiences in the school environment. As for roles and impressions, it takes time to test. I once played the role of Le Long Dinh in the film "Aspiration for Thang Long" by director Luu Trong Ninh and this role brought me the "Best Actor" award at the Golden Kite Awards in 2010 and "Best Actor" at the Vietnam Film Festival held in France in 2016.

From that constant effort, I always want to reach new creativity in acting and the role of Le Van Duyet is a great opportunity for me in the journey of bringing Vietnamese history to schools.

This year, is the program "Once Upon a Time" a pressure for you as a director when the old cast is absent?

- We are rehearsing the play "The Adventures of Captain Sinbad - The Legend of the Eye of God", an Egyptian mythological story. It will be released on the occasion of April 30 this year with 35 performances. It is clearly a lot of pressure for me because all the audience already remember the familiar cast.

"Once Upon a Time" this time features a new cast, so we have to prepare everything more carefully, for example the scenery and music must be better and more beautiful...

Multi-talented person

From a young actor with talent and endurance in artistic work, Dinh Toan has become one of the indispensable actors of IDECAF Drama Theater. Experts commented that he is the next successful generation after Thanh Loc, Huu Chau, Bach Long, Thanh Thuy... From drama, he moved to television, most notably the movie "Family of Magic" with more than 300 episodes loved by the audience, further affirming Dinh Toan's talent. He is also an active member of the children's drama series "Once upon a time" as a director, actor and also participating in scriptwriting.

As a director who graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Theatre and Cinema, he also does well as an MC for many reality TV shows.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/them-yeu-su-viet-qua-vo-kich-ve-le-van-duyet-196240406220229085.htm