My Uyen and Chinh Ba were happy when a large audience cheered for the play "Illusion"

(NLDO) - When the stage became a mirror reflecting contemporary life, the audience found sympathy with the bold experimental play by Chinh Ba and My Uyen.

People's Artist My Uyen appreciates the play "Illusion"

The experimental play by director Chinh Ba and People's Artist My Uyen was performed two shows on November 7 and 8 at the Ho Chi Minh City Small Stage Drama Theater (Stage 5B) and attracted a large audience.

My Uyen with shared feelings

The auditorium of Stage 5B was filled with flowers and applause, not large enough to accommodate more chairs but full of energy due to the overload of the audience. Even though the audience had to "climb four floors" to experience "Illusion", they were still delighted by the mischief of Chinh Ba - a stage name of a director who loves to explore new things.

Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong said: "Every time I go to see 5B, I have to climb stairs, which is a metaphor for the journey of training of the young actors' souls. They are overcoming their physical and psychological limits and even the shyness of the audience when watching experimental plays for the first time.

And they and the actors touched the emotional heart of the play, because the creations in this new form of staging all aim at one message: spreading love so that young people in contemporary life can be more open, more open-hearted, and parents will surely also realize their own actions in their relationships with their children."

The play "Illusion" only lasts 80 minutes, with the cast consisting mostly of young faces, except for People's Artist My Uyen in the role of "the big mother". However, the play still retains its strange appeal because for the first time 5B "plays" live music, then dances, dialogues in the noise of life and documentary films, with emotions interwoven into a seamless whole.

A scene from the play "Illusion"

"Illusion" is the world of people lost in the storm of public opinion.

The play revolves around two main characters: two mothers, each loving their children in a different way.

The "big mother" loves her child so much that she wants her child to be "perfect" according to her arrangement, she forces her child to live according to the model she believes is right. Meanwhile, the "little mother" loves her child by providing material things, thinking that is enough.

Two mothers, two symbols of distorted love in modern times, make viewers suddenly recognize themselves in the characters.

And when love becomes imposition, simplification in thinking. Concerns turn into chains, the children go astray when peace does not come to them.

The play is a family story, a warning to a society where the gap between generations is growing, where judgments on social media can kill a life.

The scene of the son choosing death to escape the cruel criticism and criticism of public opinion left the audience speechless, as if thrown into a moment of empty regret. Even for his younger brother, the concern was only a formality.

Stage "5B" creates a new space with the play "Illusion"

My Uyen - Drama and life in dialogue with online society

The play "Illusion" also touches on a painful issue of the digital age: the addiction to wanting to be famous thanks to crowds and relying on social networks to make money.

The image of cheap "content creators" who are willing to do the worst things to distort morality. They attract views by exploiting other people's pain. The play reflects a world where people gradually lose their true feelings and only want to chase after virtual things.

Chinh Ba's stage is also a place for storytelling, creating a space for social criticism. There, the characters portrayed by the actors act as a mirror reflecting the audience.

Having already attracted attention when staging the play "They Ordered and Rolled on the Sand, the Waves and the Tumbleweeds", Chinh Ba has a "taste" for writing and staging dialogues interwoven with documentary images, live music and modern body language. The noise of the space created the feeling of watching a "combined play - cinema - music".

Chinh Ba dares to choose the difficult path

The play is aimed at the 2025 International Experimental Theatre Festival, which will be held on November 16 and 17 in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by the festival in Ninh Binh, Hai Phong and Hanoi . "Illusion" is a potential candidate, promising to be recognized for Chinh Ba's bold experimentation.

Actor Tran Dai Chinh's first stage role

First of all, this is a difficult type of play for the general audience. It does not satisfy the audience who likes entertaining plays but forces them to think, listen and feel to find the ending for themselves. However, that is the true value of experimental theater that Chinh Ba dares to step into and does not want to be "confused" in the safe zone.

The band played live with a lively rhythm, the actors' voices blended with the audience's emotions. They had practiced almost to exhaustion to prepare for the creative voyage. "That is the fire that the HCM City stage needs to be fueled. We put all our efforts into going together and finding new creativity for the play" - People's Artist My Uyen said.

Mirror of hope

Experts commented that at the depth of the script, "Illusion" is both a pain and a cry for help so that life can have meaningful attention, connecting people with love. The play makes viewers realize: sometimes, what a child needs is just understanding when listening to them share and what a mother needs when letting go of prejudices.

Young actors performed the play's songs with emotion.

People's Artist My Uyen, playing the role of the mother, effectively supported the young cast, creating emotions that both supported and led them into the story, interacting with the audience, highlighting the true meaning of the stage: "live truly, feel truly and act truly".

The play also proves that the Ho Chi Minh City stage is constantly changing when People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Stage Association always "gives the green light" for young people with the desire to dialogue with contemporary life to dare to think and dare to make similar plays.

The play "Illusion" will continue to be performed at 7:30 p.m. on November 14, 15, 16 and 2:00 p.m. on November 16 at Stage 5B.

The play "Illusion" is where those who love the stage can find themselves in the fragments of thoughts between reality and fantasy. The play is the echo of a generation searching for the truth in a world of illusions.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/my-uyen-chinh-ba-hanh-phuc-khi-dong-dao-khan-gia-co-vu-vo-ao-quan-196251110065907986.htm