On the literary works of the late Secretary of the Pleiku Prison Camp Party Committee

(GLO)- The memorial stele for revolutionary soldiers who heroically sacrificed their lives at Pleiku Prison Camp (1966-1972) erected in Thong Nhat Ward (Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province) mentions the Prison Party Secretary Nguyen Kim Hung (Nguyen Kim Anh). According to other documents, he was also an actor and playwright.

In the memoir “Vết son thời gian” (published by the Provincial Museum, Department of Culture and Information of Gia Lai in 1999), more than once, former prisoners of Pleiku Prison Camp (1966-1972) mentioned the play “Tran Binh Trong” which was performed in this “hell on earth” during Tet 1967. That night’s performance was the deep voice of patriots, a slap in the face of those who were the enemy’s lackeys. The climax of the play was the extraordinary action of General Tran Binh Trong (played by actor Vo Si Thua) when he was captured by the enemy and bribed by being offered wine. He stood up and kicked away the glass of wine, pointed at the face of the traitor Tran Long and shouted: “Until you all are killed, how can we drink wine!”.

Few people do not know the character Tran Binh Trong with his famous saying in front of the fierce and cunning neighboring enemy: "I would rather be a ghost in the South than a king in the North!". The indomitable spirit of that Tran Dynasty general has long become an indomitable monument in Vietnamese history and culture. However, the journey to find the work "Tran Binh Trong" by former prisoner Nguyen Kim Hung is not easy.

About the literary works of the late Secretary of the Pleiku Prison Camp Party Committee photo 1

Cover of the book “Non song goi” published in 1983. Photo: NQT

Mr. Nguyen Kim Hung passed away in 1983. Although I was very patient, there were times when I thought I was hopeless. One day, I took photos of all the relevant information and sent them to Dr. Nguyen Dang Vu - former Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai province, asking for his help. Luckily, Mr. Vu found a clue that was a living witness. I took a bus to the hometown of playwright Nguyen Kim Hung that same night.

With the permission of the late author Nguyen Kim Hung's relatives, I saw with my own eyes the book "Non song goi" published by the Literature and Arts Association of Nghia Binh province in 1983. The book is nearly 100 pages thick, 13 x 19 cm in size. The inside of the book is the type of black paper commonly seen in this period. More importantly, it has printed 2 literary scripts by former prisoner of Pleiku Prison Camp Nguyen Kim Hung. In addition to the introduction of the book by the veteran in the activities and research of the stage Hoang Chau Ky (6 pages) written on September 2, 1983, the next part, the scripts "Tran Binh Trong" and "Tran Quoc Toan" have the same number of pages (40 pages).

In the first play, the characters are divided into two factions. The second play takes place in the spring of 1285, and includes the following characters: Tran Nhan Tong, Tran Khanh Du, Tran Quoc Toan, Tran Quang Xuong, Ly Mau, Hoang Lao, Kim Chi, Lao Mai, Son's younger sister, Lao's older sister, Lam's younger sister, Le Vu, Sai Thung, and several others.

The common point of these two texts is that based on a true historical plot, author Nguyen Kim Hung has fictionalized it in a reasonable way, making the works beautiful and attractive. Putting the appearance of these two literary scripts in the context of pre-1975 prisons, we will see that the impact of these works is extremely large. Not only arousing patriotism and national pride, these are also calls, encouragements, and a steadfast belief in the final victory of the nation, no matter how cruel and cunning the enemy is.

In the process of searching for related documents, I learned that, in addition to writing Tuong scripts, the steadfast revolutionary soldier in Pleiku Prison Camp and Phu Quoc Prison, Nguyen Kim Hung, was also a Tuong actor (in the 1967 play performed in Pleiku, he played the role of the enemy general O Ma Nhi). In addition to the two works “Tran Binh Trong” and “Tran Quoc Toan” mentioned above, he was also the father of the plays “Xo Viet Nghe Tinh”, “Khoi Nghia Ba To”, “No Mau”…

NGUYEN QUANG TUE

Rate this article

Source link