'Truong Ba's Soul, Butcher's Skin' new version combines puppetry, hip hop, Xam, rap

The play 'Truong Ba's Soul, Butcher's Skin' by the late author Luu Quang Vu was remade by People's Artists and Meritorious Artists, combining puppetry, hip hop, Xam, and rap.

The famous play The Soul of Truong Ba, the Butcher by the late author Luu Quang Vu has been staged in many types of theater such as drama, tuong, cheo, cai luong... In 2016, director - Meritorious Artist Le Chi Kien made his mark when he brought this work to the puppet stage and won the award for "Best Experimental Puppetry Performance" at the 3rd International Experimental Theater Festival.

"The Soul of Truong Ba in the Butcher's Body" by author Luu Quang Vu is renewed with a creative version combining puppetry, hip hop, Xam, rap,...

In 2025, Meritorious Artist Le Chi Kien will re-create this puppet show with many bolder and more modern ideas. The new version combines a variety of puppet types: human puppets, puppets, shadow puppets, etc. with a unique stage design consisting of three intersecting layers - the earthly stage, the puppet stage, and the heavenly stage.

The Yin-Yang chessboard design by People's Artist Doan Bang is a highlight of the stage, evoking a message about choosing right and wrong in life's journey.

The music is a blend of traditional materials such as Xam, Chau Van, Cheo, A Dao with contemporary hip hop and rap - creating a creative mix that attracts young people. The play opens with a chaotic and lively market scene recreated with the sound of wooden clogs, like background music for ancient society.

Using the sound of wooden clogs to represent a good society, with superiors and subordinates, with order, that sound also complements the puppet stage, which has many inanimate characters, is also a bold and bold move by the director and People's Artist Le Hong Phong.

The play features many famous artists such as Meritorious Artist Dang Tien who adapted the script, People's Artist Doan Bang who designed the stage, artist Ngo Thang who created the puppets, and People's Artist Le Hong Phong who was in charge of the music . Artists from Thang Long Puppetry Theatre are the main performers.

According to People's Artist Tran Quoc Chiem - Chairman of the Hanoi Literature and Arts Association, the play is a successful combination of tradition and modern technology, creating a new and impressive puppet work.

The puppet play The Soul of Truong Ba in the Butcher's Body is part of Hanoi's plan to preserve traditional arts for the 2021-2025 period. The play will represent Vietnam at the International Experimental Theatre Festival in Hanoi in October 2025.

Le Chi

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/hon-truong-ba-da-hang-thit-phien-ban-moi-ket-hop-mua-roi-hiphop-xam-rap-ar941458.html