"Fire Flower" - When a soldier's heart burns with pride

Within the framework of the 5th Professional Stage Arts Festival on "The Image of the People's Police Soldier" - 2025, the play "Hoa Lua" by the People's Police Drama Theater left many deep impressions. That is not only because of the emotional story, but also because of the way the image of the firefighter is portrayed with an idealistic and humane spirit.

The play "Fire Flowers" honors the image of fire fighters

The play is one of the typical works performed with content direction from the Department of Political Work - Ministry of Public Security , celebrating the 80th anniversary of the People's Public Security Traditional Day and the 20th anniversary of the National Day for National Security Protection.

The work brings together an experienced creative team: author Nguyen Thanh Binh, editor Trinh Huyen, director People's Artist Le Hung, and a dedicated cast of actors from the People's Police Drama Theater.

"Hoa Lua" not only reflects social reality, but also shines a light on the courage and choices of today's young people. The story centers on Tu, a young police officer who repeatedly asks to be transferred to become a firefighter - following in the footsteps of his father who sacrificed his life on duty.

The confrontation between the mother's reason and the son's idealistic aspirations creates a drama imbued with real life - everyday life and military life.

The presence of too many illustrative actors makes the director's handling fragmented and boring.

A notable highlight of "Hoa Lua" is the way the director exploited the theme of mini apartment fires - a painful and sensitive issue in modern life - to incorporate into the play as a responsible wake-up call.

Through this, the play not only honors firefighters, but also opens up thoughts about fire prevention systems, urban safety and the conscience of those directly or indirectly involved in disasters that have occurred in reality.

The love of a firefighter is simple but profound.

However, besides the rich social and emotional content, the play still leaves a big regret in the way it is staged: the abuse of the cast illustrating the image of "fire" on stage.

It is not difficult to understand the director's artistic intention when he wanted to concretize the fire as a living symbol - both a danger and a symbol of courage and ideals.

However, the use of too many supporting actors to continuously illustrate "fire" in almost all the layers of the play made the stage layout become messy, fragmented, and unnecessarily prolonged the performance. The play also featured too many flashbacks, causing the flow of the play to be slow and lacking in action.

The image of the mother of the people's police officer is built very humanely.

In some climaxes, instead of being pushed to a climax, viewers are "distracted" by the non-stop, sometimes monotonous, movements of the supporting cast.

Director People's Artist Le Hung is famous for his rich visual storytelling, but in "Hoa Lua", perhaps the abundance of ideas has caused him to stray too far from the main emotional axis - which requires focus and depth rather than spread.

Furthermore, he staged the ending too weakly, more of a propaganda campaign than a political scenario that author Nguyen Thanh Binh wanted to share.

The play "Fire Flower" was congratulated by fellow artists and audiences after its performance at the Army Theater.

However, it cannot be denied that "Hoa Lua" is still a profound theatrical work, evoking emotions and highlighting the image of the People's Public Security soldier in peacetime - quiet but brave, fierce but humane.

Despite the shortcomings in terms of staging, the spirit of dedication, life ideals and pride in each character will remain forever in the hearts of viewers.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hoa-lua-khi-trai-tim-nguoi-linh-chay-bang-niem-kieu-hanh-196250701064742457.htm