"The King of Traditional Opera" Tran Bang

On the morning of July 19th, Meritorious Artist Tran Luc announced that his father, People's Artist Tran Bang, had passed away at 6:00 AM that same day after a period of hospitalization. He was 97 years old.

Director Tran Luc posted a photo of People's Artist Tran Bang in May.

A few days ago, artist Tran Bang fell and had to undergo joint replacement surgery. Director Tran Luc shared the good news that the surgery was successful. However, afterwards, he had a high fever for several days due to pneumonia.

In recent years, his health has declined, but his mind remains sharp. The artist has been living with his son's family for the past six years. At over 90 years old, he still keeps up with the news through social media and is proficient in using an iPad.

People's Artist Tran Bang was born in 1926 in Co Am commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong . He was the son of writer Tran Tieu and the nephew of writer Khai Hung. His wife was the Cheo (traditional Vietnamese opera) artist Tran Thi Xuan, who passed away in 2016.

People's Artist Tran Bang has been living in a small apartment with his son Tran Luc in Hanoi for the past six years.

Artist Tran Bang is known as the "king of Cheo" (traditional Vietnamese opera), because he belonged to the first generation to revive Cheo art, which was gradually fading away before the Westernization movement of the 1950s. He was a director, playwright, researcher, and theorist of Cheo.

He adapted and rebuilt many classic cheo plays such as: "Quan Am Thi Kinh", "Suy Van" (from the play "Kim Nham"), "Nang Thiet The" (from the play "Chu Mai Than")... The play "Quan Am Thi Kinh" alone was restaged by him three times (1956, 1968, 1985).

In addition, he also staged many modern cheo plays such as: "The Magic Potion", "Forest Love", "Liberation Flag", "Two Paths", "Our Blood Has Flowed"...

Besides his role as a director, he also wrote many traditional Vietnamese opera scripts such as: "The Buffalo of Two Families", "The Road Divided into Two Paths", "The Girl and the Wrestler", "Forest Love", "80-Year Love Story", "Our Blood Has Flowed"...

He also wrote several research books on Cheo (Vietnamese traditional opera), such as *Introduction to Cheo*, *Techniques of Cheo Performance*, *Cheo - A Phenomenon of National Theatre*...

The veteran artist previously held positions such as Director of the Central Cheo Theatre, Head of the Department of Stage Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Information, and Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Stage Artists, first term (1957).

He was awarded the title of Professor and People's Artist in 1993. He received the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2001 and the Ho Chi Minh Prize in 2007.

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