From left to right: Dr. Mai My Duyen, Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong; Associate Professor Dr. Huynh Quoc Thang, People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc; People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau - Photo: HO LAM
On the morning of July 8, at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association organized a book launch on Ho Chi Minh City Cai Luong Theater from 1975 to 2025 by People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc; People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau editors.
The book launch was attended by many big names in the theater industry such as: People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc; People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association; Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong; Associate Professor, Dr. Huynh Quoc Thang; Director Ton That Can, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association; Dr. Mai My Duyen.
This is an opportunity for artists and researchers to look back on the journey of Cai Luong 50 years after the country's reunification and discuss the challenges and opportunities for the development of Cai Luong theater in the new era.
Ms. Ca Le Hong and Mr. Tran Minh Ngoc both emphasized the professional value of the book Ho Chi Minh City Reformed Theater - Photo: HO LAM
81 articles, a great collection of cai luong theater
The book " Ho Chi Minh City's Cai Luong Stage from 1975 to 2025" can be considered a large-scale, valuable monograph that, according to Ms. Ca Le Hong, "is not only a research work on Cai Luong stage for Ho Chi Minh City but also for the whole country".
Sharing at the discussion, director Tran Minh Ngoc said that he was quite worried when he edited the book because he came from a stage background. However, the contribution of 81 dedicated articles from researchers, journalists, artists... with many years of experience in the field of reformed theater made him feel secure.
"It can be said that the content of the articles in the book is very polished. We almost don't have to edit anything, we just need to read and feel it," said Mr. Ngoc.
According to Mr. Ngoc, following the research work Saigon Cai Luong 1955 - 1975, the book Ho Chi Minh City Cai Luong Stage 1975 - 2025 will focus on the following areas: staging, performance, stage activities and theory.
Some articles include: Half a century looking back at the Ho Chi Minh City reformed theater on the way to entering a new historical period (1975-2025) ; From Thanh Tam Award to Tran Huu Trang Award ; Artist Thanh Duoc - Ut Bach Lan: The talented couple of reformed theater ...
From an academic perspective, Associate Professor Dr. Huynh Quoc Thang believes that the book can be considered a "complete collection" for both Vietnamese reformed theater in particular and the performing arts in general.
Artist Thanh Hang sings Cai Luong at the book launch event - Video : HO LAM
To innovate, we need to understand traditional values.
From the perspective of someone who has been in the profession for more than 40 years, People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau emphasized:
"Without the Cai Luong stage, in Vietnamese theater, we would not have any form that could reflect the image of contemporary people - short hair, wearing dresses, wearing western shoes - on stage in a realistic and vivid way. That was the intelligent creation of the previous generation."
According to Mr. Giau, Cai Luong is a typical art form of the Southern region, inheriting the spirit of Don Ca Tai Tu, blending with storytelling and opera performances, and gradually forming a new type of theater: national theater that reflects the people of the times.
Associate Professor Dr. Huynh Quoc Thang emphasized that reformed opera in the new era needs to go hand in hand with the development of cultural industry - Photo: HO LAM
"On that basis, cải lương is forced to solve a series of problems: what are the performance techniques and music like? What is the stage scenery like? How to reconcile traditional elements with influences from Western theater?
Those are the topics that need to be researched seriously and deeply. To innovate cải lương, we must know and understand what traditional values are," said Mr. Giàu.
Mr. Giau said that this book focuses on the theory of the genre that "currently our reformed theater has not been able to do that": "Perhaps we should restore the center for research and development of reformed theater, because the current troupes only focus on performance and lack basic theory."
In addition to developing material and equipment conditions, Mr. Huynh Quoc Thang proposed to include Cai Luong in the city's tourism and cultural product chain, build standard performance stages, and provide accompanying services to serve international tourists.
Book of Ho Chi Minh City Reformed Theatre from 1975 to 2025 - Photo: HO LAM
'I was born in Binh Dinh, living on reformed opera'
Meritorious Artist Le Thien, former deputy director of Tran Huu Trang Theater, said she was born in the martial arts land of Binh Dinh, but grew up and became known to the audience thanks to reformed opera.
She also has certain concerns when observing the current life of Cai Luong: "In the past, you just had to close your eyes and listen to know who was singing. For our generation, this is very valuable."
But according to Ms. Le Thien, currently some young artists sing very young, with lots of accompaniment, but lack the flow and depth of real cai luong singing.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/81-bai-viet-mot-tap-dai-thanh-cua-san-khau-cai-luong-20250708150440442.htm
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