Telling history through reformed opera

The background of our base in the play The Son of the Melaleuca Forest

Deputy Head of Long An Cai Luong Art Troupe - People's Artist Ho Ngoc Trinh can "soften" and "tell history", nearly a year before the 2024 National Cai Luong Festival takes place, many questions have been raised about choosing a theme to build a play to participate in the festival. Should we re-stage an old play with a new style or stage a completely new play? Continue to pursue the Troupe's policy up to now to promote the image of Long An land and people through the play or just build a play with strong artistic qualities to participate in the festival? If choosing a historical theme, how can we "touch people's hearts" through the play?

Telling history through art

After many discussions and requests for direction, the Long An Cai Luong Art Troupe decided to create a completely new play about a historical aspect of the period of resistance against French colonialism. The victory of Lang Le - Bau Co with the important leadership role of revolutionary Truong Van Bang was chosen as the "core" for the play.

The script of The Son of the Melaleuca Forest was born based on real historical documents about a victory known as the "symbol of courage" of our army and people and a talented, loyal revolutionary, a son of Can Giuoc, Long An.

The role of Ut (modeled after Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mot) in the play The Child of the Melaleuca Forest

Not just a dry historical story with guns and the harshness of war, The Son of the Melaleuca Forest is portrayed by humane stories about love, family, and the pain of people who lost their country.

All of these combine and complement each other so that viewers can both visualize a "slice" of society during the French colonial period and understand and be proud of their father's talent and bravery.

Without the intense climaxes like the work Mother's Life (which also explores the family of revolutionary Truong Van Bang), The Son of the Melaleuca Forest makes an impression with the profound psychological developments of each character, thereby helping the audience clearly feel, sympathize and be drawn into the developments of the entire play.

In addition, the continuous change of scene on stage not only helps the audience clearly visualize the contrast and difference in force and equipment between us and the enemy, but also makes the play more attractive. The stage setting is carefully prepared, combined with sound, light and LED effects to increase the visual effect for the audience as well as reduce the time of scene transition, making the audience's emotions more seamless and complete.

The application of technology in the field of theater is considered a strong point of Long An Cai Luong Art Troupe in recent years in the journey to preserve traditional art. In addition to combining effects from technology, shadow puppetry and choreography are also cleverly integrated into the play to increase entertainment and create attraction for the work.

Shadow puppetry is included in the play The Son of the Melaleuca Forest to increase entertainment and appeal.

The efforts of the artist

With The Son of the Melaleuca Forest, a historical story is retold gently and skillfully in the language of reformed opera, through each detail and character,... The "knots" and "openings" all focus on the character's psychological developments to create emotion and drama for the play.

Playing the role of revolutionary Truong Van Bang for the second time, Meritorious Artist Vuong Tuan said that there was almost no overlap in the two incarnations because the aspects of exploiting the characters were completely different. "The character of Ba in the play is both a dignified and calm commanding officer and an affectionate husband and father. He is not only brave and resourceful with the enemy but also very humane in the way he handles situations, easily winning people's hearts" - Meritorious Artist Vuong Tuan shared.

Not only Ba, each character in the play has a very unique story, thereby honoring the patriotism, solidarity and anti-invasion spirit of our people.

Playing the role of an old farmer who is “at the end of his rope” due to the times, Artist Ngan Cuong makes the audience laugh with his small comedies and shed tears with the irony and pent-up emotions in his life. “When I took on the role of Mr. Tu, I stayed up many nights to ponder and feel about the character. This role is very different from the clown and evil roles I have played before,” Artist Ngan Cuong expressed.

It is these differences that create the work that won the Gold Medal at the 2024 National Cai Luong Festival - The Son of the Melaleuca Forest. A historical corner is vividly and gently recreated with traditional art and keeps the young audience sitting until the last minutes, which is considered the success of The Son of the Melaleuca Forest.

People's Artist Ho Ngoc Trinh said: “Since the idea, we have carefully prepared from the script to the selection of actors for each role. The participation and coordination of Meritorious Artists such as Ngoc Doi, Vuong Tuan, Vuong Sang as well as talented young Artists such as Thu My, Phu Yen, Quynh Nhi, Tran Minh, Trong Tanh, Phuong Nhi have created the overall success of the play. The Gold Medal of the National Cai Luong Festival 2024 is an honor and the enthusiastic reception of audiences inside and outside the province at the Traditional Night within the framework of the 2nd Long An Province Culture - Sports - Tourism Week in 2024 is truly a great source of motivation for the Artists in the Troupe to continue the journey of "silkworms repaying the debt of green mulberry trees".

Using the sweet and profound language of cải lương, Người con cua rung tram (The Son of the Melaleuca Forest) recounts history in an emotional and dramatic way. With a harmonious combination of traditional and modern elements, the play conquered the audience and demonstrated the vitality of cải lương art until today./.

Moc Chau

Source: https://baolongan.vn/ke-su-bang-cai-luong-a194400.html