There are too few Vietnamese historical scripts and they need investment.

Experts are worried that the licensing of performances by the authorities in Ho Chi Minh City is somewhat lenient as recently the cai luong stages have been performing a lot of plays from China.

Chinese opera is widespread.

The two plays "Song gio Dai Minh trieu" and "Mao Doan Tinh giang the" will be performed on the evening of July 8 at Tran Huu Trang Theater and Ben Thanh Theater. On July 15, the three plays "Bao Cong tra an Quach Hoe", "Moc Que Anh dang cay", "Ma hong phi nu" will be performed at the Student Cultural House, Ben Thanh Theater and Nu Cuoi Theater (HCMC Labor Culture Palace). Meanwhile, the play "Hoan Chau Cach Cach" will be performed at Hong Lien Theater on the evening of July 22. These are all plays with stories from China.

Among them, "Pink Cheeks of Phi Nu" is a new composition by artist Hoang Dang Khoa, about the life of Phi Giao - the daughter of the character Meng Li Jun in Chinese history books. This play did not have a review but was still licensed to be performed on the evening of July 15 at the Ho Chi Minh City Student Cultural House. The Ho Chi Minh City Student Cultural House stage should have been a place for community activities, introducing Vietnamese historical works, and promoting examples of steadfast patriotism.

Many people in the industry were also upset when the program "Talented Vietnamese Talents 4" with the participation of many famous artists also performed many Chinese plays.

According to experts, the reason why the stage of Cai Luong and Tuong Co is lit up is because a part of the audience loves this genre. In addition, the scripts adapted from Chinese stories have been exploited from Hat Boi to Cai Luong and Tuong Co for many decades, so they are familiar.

"The staging of too many plays from foreign historical books needs to be reviewed and adjusted to be more suitable. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the stage being lit up is a positive sign, but we have to think about the general situation of Ho Chi Minh City's stage. We cannot rely on the reason of finding every way to light up the stage after the pandemic to freely perform any play, as long as there are viewers" - Meritorious Artist Le Thien worried.

Kịch bản sử Việt quá ít, cần được đầu tư - Ảnh 2.

A scene from the Vietnamese historical opera "Storm Nguyen Phong" by the Minh To Ancient Opera Troupe

Overcoming the scarcity of pure Vietnamese plays

Why do socialized art units exploit many Chinese plays? Playwright Hoang Song Viet believes that there are many audiences who like to watch this genre, and the plays often guarantee revenue.

"To overcome the shortage of pure Vietnamese cai luong plays, there needs to be involvement of authorities and professional associations to train script writers" - playwright Hoang Song Viet suggested.

According to People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association, the late People's Artist Thanh Tong actively researched and composed many very good traditional opera plays with Vietnamese historical colors and created box office fevers, such as: "The poem of the saddle", "To Hien Thanh's trial", "The flame of Thang Long", "The rosy cheeks looking at the silver sword"...

Meritorious Artist Kim Tu Long believes that there needs to be an investment and incentive strategy for Vietnamese historical plays to reach audiences. Competent authorities need to support reducing theater rental and ticket prices, and support the writing of Vietnamese historical scripts. "I once adapted the play "Rang Ngoc Con Son" - a story about the hero Nguyen Trai - but the investment level was quite high. Therefore, the ticket price cannot be cheap, so it is difficult to attract ordinary audiences to the theater" - Meritorious Artist Kim Tu Long cited.

Director - Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha suggested: "To encourage the writing of Vietnamese historical reformed opera scripts, we need to call on socialized art troupes to participate. How can we ensure that if we stage 3 plays in a year, at least 2 of them must be scripts about Vietnamese history?"

The Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association said it will soon organize a discussion around the issue of reformed classical opera, the internal strength and solutions to help Vietnamese historical reformed opera scripts reach the public. Artist Binh Tinh said: "This is an opportunity for artists, authors, and directors to discuss frankly and find out the barriers that cause the scarcity of Vietnamese historical scripts. We need to join hands to create many Vietnamese historical works that shine on stage to contribute to raising the spirit of patriotism among young people."

Veteran artists believe that Ho Chi Minh City needs to have a strategy to nurture young creators and directors and support bringing pure Vietnamese cai luong works to the public.

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