The characters stepped out of the painting.
Launched in March 2026 at Area 75 - Art & Auction (75 Hang Bo Street, Hoan Kiem District), the play "Silhouette of Thang Long" quickly became a phenomenon on the Hanoi stage. Located in the heart of the Old Quarter, with a performance space of only about 100 seats, "Silhouette of Thang Long" consistently sold out every night.
This is an art project built with the desire to honor and evoke beautiful memories of the cultural and artistic life of old Hanoi, through a new form of expression while still preserving the traditional spirit. The performance, staged by People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung and the Vietnam Puppet Theatre, is inspired by layers of memories about Thang Long - Hanoi.
People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung shared that, from his love for the thousand-year-old land of culture, he conceived and staged "The Shadow of Long Thanh" to tell the story of Hanoi through contemporary theatrical language. According to the director, the work does not follow the path of recreating history or performing familiar stories, but rather evokes layers of memories about Hanoi through the flow of time. It is a journey affirming the enduring vitality of national culture, values that have been preserved, nurtured, and passed down through many generations.
Built with a structure that intertwines reality and memory, "The Shadow of Long Thanh" combines puppetry, dance, symbolic painting, the worship of the Mother Goddess, and the distinctive folk music of Thang Long - Hanoi to create an evocative artistic space. Through body language, light, sound, and puppets, the layers of cultural heritage of the capital city are subtly recreated. On stage, the audience feels as if the young women in the paintings, the singers of Ca Tru, or the figures in ancient lacquer paintings are stepping into reality, merging into the flow of memories of Hanoi.
According to producer Phi Hong Nhung, the novelty of the program lies in the idea of blending painting, music, and theater in the same performance space, with seemingly static paintings brought to life by movement, creating a poetic and emotional story.
Taking place in a small space in the heart of Hanoi's Old Quarter is an advantage for "The Shadow of Long Thanh." The performance makes the most of the intimate and familiar space, allowing viewers to fully appreciate every movement of the artists, every sound of the music, and the "shadows" of ancient Thang Long recreated on stage. This intimacy makes the artistic experience authentic and profound. After watching the performance, Ms. Nguyen Minh Chau (Tay Ho Ward, Hanoi) shared: "I've seen many works on professional stages, but this performance evokes a different feeling. Every story and image is so familiar, authentic, and moving, as if I were walking through a city of memories."
A new direction for the cultural industry.
Behind the success of "The Shadow of Long Thanh" lies a challenging journey. Area 75 - Art & Auction, originally an art gallery, was not a professional theater. Transforming it into a performance stage required meticulous experimentation by the team regarding sound, lighting, composition, and artist movement. Artist Giang Cam, who performed in "The Shadow of Long Thanh," stated that performing in a small space was completely different from a traditional stage. However, thanks to the guidance of People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung and the artists of the Vietnam Puppet Theatre, the performance gradually achieved fluency and received much positive feedback.
According to director Nguyen Tien Dung, he paid particular attention to how young audiences could connect with the program. Therefore, the work reduced lengthy explanations and increased expression through body language, music, and visuals. This choice helped the performance overcome the language barrier. "Foreign visitors can still feel Hanoi through the puppet movements, music, and cultural atmosphere without needing to understand all the dialogue," the director shared.
This is also why "Long Thanh Shadow" is considered a product with potential to serve cultural tourism . In the context of tourists increasingly seeking authentic local experiences, a concise performance, rich in cultural essence and easily accessible, becomes a "gateway" to understanding the history, lifestyle, and soul of Hanoi, a city with a thousand years of cultural heritage. Producer Phi Hong Nhung expressed her concern about how to prevent Vietnamese cultural values from being diluted in the flow of globalization. "We hope to create a small undercurrent, contributing to the rekindling and preservation of Vietnam's unique values," she shared.
This direction is also consistent with the spirit of Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the development of Vietnamese culture, which includes encouraging socialization, attracting resources from businesses and the community, and promoting public-private partnership models in cultural activities. The performance "In the Shadow of Long Thanh," with its combination of a public art unit and a private art space, blending contemporary creativity with traditional heritage, is a promising model for the development of the capital's cultural industry.
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/in-bong-long-thanh-diem-hen-nghe-thuat-giua-long-pho-co-1210641.html
