The director of "Under the beauty's shadow" this time is Artist Quang Thao. He has been nurturing this project for 5 years. As soon as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and he had to quarantine at home, instead of being worried and tired, he was inspired with "The Tale of Kieu".

He said: “Many people have read "The Tale of Kieu", but have they ever explained: Why did Thuy Kieu not have children after many years of living with Tu Hai? Why did Thuc Sinh and Hoan Thu live in wealth but not happiness? Where did Dam Tien come from? With these thoughts in mind, I want to create more so that "Under the shadow of a beauty" is new and different from the original work.”

Director Quang Thao said that he and the director of Idecaf Stage, Huynh Anh Tuan, were also somewhat worried, because "Truyen Kieu" is a great national work, and is too familiar to everyone, so creativity means accepting scrutiny.

The male director confided: "I decided to take my own path when writing the script, which is to fictionalize many new details, new characters, and the way the play is told must also be unique."

Director Quang Thao has been very creative with

Director Quang Thao has been very creative with "Under the beauty's shadow".

Having been very good at creating scripts for the series "Once Upon a Time" at Idecaf, Quang Thao received a lot of expectations from artists and audiences. Because each play he wrote and staged had its own quality and brought excitement to the audience. This time, Quang Thao organized the staging of a play with a strong literary style in a modern direction.

"Under the beauty's shadow" has 14 performances, bringing the audience to a very different story about Kieu, Kieu's fate and a series of characters revolving around Kieu's life. The performances of Kieu's recitation, Kieu's chanting, Chau Van singing... are interwoven in the play, making the audience not bored and enjoying more art genres.

Dinh Toan (left) plays Ho Ton Hien and Dai Nghia plays Tu Hai.

Dinh Toan (left) plays Ho Ton Hien and Dai Nghia plays Tu Hai.

To prepare for "Under the beauty's shadow", musician Van Tu Quy wrote 30 songs, both with and without lyrics. In which, the musician used many traditional instruments such as: zither, flute, monochord to create fresh melodies, adding more national soul to the play.

Watching "Under the beauty's shadow", viewers will see a complete difference compared to previous stage scripts, when inspired by "Truyen Kieu" before, modernity and tradition blend together, creativity reigns but is still not too much or offensive.

The character Kieu is played by Artist Hong Anh. The character Kieu is played by Artist Hong Anh.

In addition to a creative Director Quang Thao, "Under the shadow of a beauty" also has Kieu, played by Artist Hong Anh with great enthusiasm. As soon as she read the script, Hong Anh decided to turn down 4 TV and movie roles to focus on Kieu.

The artist confided: “I want to portray the strong image of Kieu in my own way. This is my biggest stage role to date. The play has 14 scenes, of which Kieu appears in 11. Therefore, I need to train well to be able to take on the role.”

Ever since she was in school, Hong Anh read "The Tale of Kieu" and felt that she could never fully exploit this work. In her mind, if she were to wear Kieu's shirt, she would completely change her appearance, from her appearance to her temperament. Thuy Kieu is fragilely beautiful but determined to fight her fate to the end. The performance of Kieu daring to confront the district magistrate's son is a beautiful and impressive performance, she beats the drum in her own painful dance. The female artist shared: "I think Kieu is a victim, a woman of the family but brave and not as weak as many people think".

Artist Thanh Thuy (right) plays Hoan Thu.

Artist Thanh Thuy (right) plays Hoan Thu.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation of theater stages is quite precarious. Most theater workers choose entertaining and easy-to-recover scripts, instead of choosing plays with strong literary or epic content... Idecaf Theater dared to take a risk with "Under the beauty's shadow" which made many people admire and worry.

Mr. Huynh Anh Tuan, Director of Idecaf Stage, shared: “We want to stage a big play for the audience to show our gratitude. This time, "Under the beauty's shadow" is the passion of all the brothers at the stage and when we put our heart into something, I believe we will reap sweet fruit.”

"Under the Beauty's Shadow" premiered its first show on the evening of December 1 at Ben Thanh Theater. After that, the play will perform 4 more shows on Saturday and Sunday evenings every week until mid-December./.

Thanh Lam

Photo: Provided by Idecaf Stage

Source: https://baocamau.vn/nang-kieu-duoi-bong-giai-nhan-co-gi-moi-a36104.html