HCM City artists celebrate anniversary of cai luong

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Artists from traditional cai luong (reformed opera) troupes in HCM City will offer new shows this weekend to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the art.

The commemoration begins on September 28 or the twelfth day of the eighth lunar month. 

The Huynh Long Troupe in Binh Thanh district will stage Tan Anh Hung Nao (The Victory of a Young Hero), a historical production directed by veteran female artist Bach Mai, the troupe’s owner, on September 27 night.

The event will star talented artists Bình Tinh, Thái Vinh and Huyền Trâm, graduates of HCM City University of Theatre & Cinematography.

“Our play features a very old story, but will be staged in a new style of cải lương, a 100-year-old genre of traditional theatre in the south," said actress Tinh, winner of the Chuong Vang Vong Co (Golden Bell) Awards 2016, a national cai luong contest presented annually by HCM City Television.

Tinh and her colleagues will perform vong co (nostalgic tunes), cai luong and tuong (classical drama).

The Vu Luan Entertainment Centre in District 6 will offer a special show on Saturday (September 26), featuring popular extracts from historical plays written by Tran Huu Trang, Ha Trieu and Hoa Phuong, well known as cai luong gurus. 

The show will feature cai luong stars such as Meritorious Artist Vu Linh, Kim Tu Long, To Chau and Vu Luan, the theatre’s owner.

Performance highlights will be staged by actor Linh, who was famous in the 1980s and 90s and has more than 50 years of experience in the art.

The Phung Hoang Troupe in District 10 organised a worship ceremony at 7pm on September 26 at Vuon Lai Theatre on Vinh Vien street.

The event's theme, Cong Hien (Devotion), is meant to honour and encourage theatre artists who have devoted their lives to preserving and developing the art. 

Young artists will be featured. More than 200 guests, mostly elderly artists, have been invited to attend the show.

A group of actors in the city and neighbouring provinces will visit the Artists' Pagoda in Go Vap district to offer free performances every night during the week of the event.  

Following tradition, the artists will show their deep respect for late actress Phung Ha, a great symbol of cai luong and also founder of the pagoda.

Ha spent her savings to build the Artists' Pagoda in 1958. It serves as a place for 1,000 theatre performers who were once stars on the stage but now need financial support./.