Luu Quang Vu is one of the most prominent figures of Vietnam’scontemporary drama scene. A festival last month in Hanoi featured his 13plays, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of the famedplaywright. The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reports.
Hanoians weretreated to a special theatrical event, the festival of plays by talentedplaywright Luu Quang Vu in early September. The festival, whichcommemorated the 25th anniversary of the death of Vu, featured his 13plays. Vu’s works now remain relevant to the present days and stillappealing to the audiences.
The festival, organised by theVietnam Stage Artists Association, took place from September 9 to 16 inHanoi, involving nine art troupes, including the Vietnam Drama Theatre,The Youth Theatre, the Hanoi Cheo (traditional opera) Theatre and HaiPhong Cheo Theatre.
The best-known plays performed included"Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit" (Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher’s Body),"Trai Tim Trong Trang" (Pure Heart), "Ong Khong Phai La Bo Toi" (You AreNot My Dad), and "Mua Ha Cuoi Cung" (The Last Summer).
The newly-arranged performances, which combined cinematic and language techniques, greatly impressed the audience.
Written in the 1970s and 1980s, Vu’s plays tell stories about reallife, containing lessons about honesty, courage, struggle and shunningthe bad and the wrong ideas, which are still vitally relevant now.
Truong Nhuan, Director of the Youth Theatre, told VOV: "Luu Quang Vuwas one of the most prominent figures of Vietnam’s contemporary dramascene. He has not yet been replaced in his role as the nation’s mostimportant contemporary dramatist."
The week-long festival sawcrowds of audiences with major venues in Hanoi such as Workers’ Theatre,Dai Nam and Youth theaters all being fully occupied. Audiences ofdifferent ages experienced a range of different tones and moods.
The play "Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher’s Body" reflects the strugglebetween the soul and the body, between the lusts and the ideals in orderfor a person to become him/herself.
Family relations, changesin social norms, moral degradation and the lust for money are allthemes of the play "You Are Not My Dad".
Nhuan was muchappreciative of Vu’s works: "Many professional theatres and troupescontinue to stage Vu’s plays, demonstrating that his works unleashed thebreath of life and connected with the public. His works bear humanecharacteristics and aggressively rage against the evil and wrong andyearn for social fairness."
Killed in a traffic accident aged41, when his talent had reached its maturity, Vu left a huge legacy of50 scripts. They were of various genres and "Truong Ba’s Soul in aButcher’s Body" became an eternal part of Vietnam’s theatrical history.
People’s Artist Doan Chau, former Director of the VietnamDrama Theater, a friend and colleague of playwright Vu, told VOV:“Weperformed 'Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher’s Body' in a drama festival inMoscow in 1986. After watching it, a German critic said: 'This is a bombin the middle of the festival.' It has stirred an explosion inVietnam’s dramatic theatres.
"Later on, the play was staged in30 states across the US and won acclaim from American audiences, mostof whom were young people and students. So I think 'Truong Ba’s Soul in aButcher’s Body' is a piece of work by Vu that will last forever."
The Hanoi festival once again highlighted the stature of Luu QuangVu, who helped elevate Vietnam’s drama to a peak that some contemporaryartists can only dream of.-VNA