Transforming into the character Duong Van Nga with courage - Tuyet Thu sublimates with emotions

(NLĐ) – The profound journey to find something new for the stage, the experimental mark from Tuyet Thu in "Son Ha" captivates the audience

Friends, colleagues and audiences came to cheer and congratulate the play "Son Ha"

On the afternoon of November 17 at Tran Huu Trang Theater, the play "Son Ha" - a work directed by Meritorious Artist Le Nguyen Dat and developed from the script "The Queen of Two Kings" by the late author Le Duy Hanh - conquered the audience of the 6th International Experimental Theater Festival in 2025 with a theatrical language rich in aesthetics, philosophy and full of inner depth.

This is one of the rare works that combines the spirit of experimentation with the script genre for an actor that author Le Duy Hanh once cherished. And Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu, an artist with nearly four decades of dedication to the stage, has brought an excellent and convincing transformation.

From "The Queen of Two Kings" to "Mountains and Rivers": a consistent experimental spirit

Before becoming "Son Ha", the script "Queen of Two Kings" was staged at the Ho Chi Minh City Small Stage Drama Theater and was considered one of the works rich in philosophical and historical depth by author Le Duy Hanh. He is passionate about exploiting historical fates in a context full of torment between power - national duty - human destiny.

Gauze curtain creates an effect for Duong Van Nga to dialogue with Dinh Tien Hoang in the play "Son Ha"

The development of this script in a solo direction clearly shows the spirit of experimentation: putting the entire weight of Duong Van Nga's image into a single artist. This creates a great challenge for Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu, but at the same time opens up a special space for the actor to delve into each emotional beat, each psychological state without being fragmented by other character lines.

This is an experiment of the director and an experiment of the playwright Dr. Le Hoang Long - son of the late author Le Duy Hanh, who always believed in the ability of the artist when they had to "move on their own in the tragedy of their own character". He was inspired by his father's script to create more good layers of acting for the play.

Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu is more mature with "Mountains and Rivers"

Before "Son Ha", Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu had great success with the role of Ngoc Han in the play "Hon Tho Ngoc" - also an experimental work directed by director Khanh Hoang.

The role at that time was part of the directorial graduation play by artist Khanh Hoang, proving Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu's ability to control expression, restrain emotions and interact with new stage languages.

Gauze curtain with light creating flower petals makes the catwalk really luxurious

With "Son Ha", she took another challenging step: becoming Empress Duong Van Nga - a heavyweight character not only in action but also in thought. Sometimes I was afraid she would fall into "very reformed opera" dialogue, but fortunately that was restrained.

In a spirit of gratitude to the late author Le Duy Hanh, Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu plays this role not for performance, but as an artist's wish to live fully in the role she has dreamed of for so long.

At her age and career, Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu lived with her role, from the torn eyes when hearing the criticism. To the breath caught when the character faced the important decision of the country, To the satisfaction when hearing the people support the Queen Mother to give power to the person capable of shouldering the fate of the country.

All of this creates a constant, enduring emotional force field – something that only an actor with professional depth can sustain for a 75-minute solo performance.

Experiments in staging: when philosophy and aesthetics meet

Director Meritorious Artist Le Nguyen Dat did not choose to show off techniques, but used technology and contemporary performance language to support the philosophical depth of the work. Gauze – LED screen and lighting art created Duong Van Nga’s mental space.

Dancers provided strong support for Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu's performance in the play "Son Ha"

When Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu monologued, the lighting – designed by Meritorious Artist Thien My and the sound created by Meritorious Artist Anh Kiet – created a movement like the flow of psychology: sometimes bright with power, sometimes dim with prejudices torn in the heart of a woman standing between two shores of morality.

Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach's music subtly guides the audience's emotions. The music does not "hit hard" but penetrates deeply, especially in the internal dialogues. The timbre of the string orchestra combined with the traditional style creates a rhythm for the character's mood changes, a musicality that supports the performance instead of overwhelming it.

The new point in the staging of "Son Ha" is to simplify the dance performances that are familiar in Le Nguyen Dat's staging. Instead, he used layers of acting that focused on the character's expressions. This highlighted the character's ideological tragedy: facing the "world's gossip", the Queen Mother had to converse with herself more than with others.

The philosophical depth of Le Duy Hanh in a new look

Author Le Duy Hanh's scripts always have ideological weight, but in "Son Ha", the philosophical quality is more strongly evoked thanks to the minimalist acting space. Philosophical dialogues about "power", "virtue", "sacrificing oneself for the country", "the status of women in the political game" become even sharper in the form of a solo performance.

The central idea of ​​empowering talented people to keep the country peaceful is clearly shown in each performance, without being dramatic or dogmatic, but deeply imbued with the struggle of a person with the heart of a mother but bearing the responsibility of a Queen Mother.

Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu in the play "Mountains and Rivers"

Although Son Ha achieved aesthetic effectiveness and philosophical depth, one can still clearly see a "flaw" in the crew's experimental efforts, which is that director Meritorious Artist Le Nguyen Dat has not really made a breakthrough in handling the drama's structure.

In a one-act script, a big challenge for every director is that the audience expects more boldness in reconstructing the dramatic structure, in order to open up a wider space for dialogue between the character and the audience.

However, in "Son Ha", the director still keeps the traditional structure quite intact, without creating "cracks" for the characters to break out of the familiar framework.

Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu had beautiful expressions, attracting the audience through her calm and sincere acting style.

Expecting a new version to make "Son Ha" more beautiful, more refined and profound, daring to experiment to find something new, that is the goal to achieve much more than the medals that the crew expects.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hoa-than-ban-linh-vao-nhan-vat-duong-van-nga-tuyet-thu-thang-hoa-day-cam-xuc-196251117213910784.htm