Pity for the Han River Grass Burden

The Han River Grass Caravan, a nearly 50-year-old script by playwright Thu An, has returned to the Tran Huu Trang Theater stage with a cast of mostly young actors and actresses.

Artists Ngoc Doi (as Oanh Kieu) and Minh Truong (as Tran Dinh) in the play Ganh co song Han 2025 - Photo: LINH DOAN

This is the project to launch WE Cai Luong Stage, with the desire to be a place to foster young people with potential but lacking opportunities to rub shoulders with good roles to practice their skills.

The 2025 version of Han River Grass Caravan was directed by artist Hoa Ha.

In the new staging of the play The Carry of Grass on the Han River, director Hoa Ha used a person to portray the character Bach Long Phi. In the clip, Oanh Kieu remembers Bach Long Phi when her beloved horse is being chased by the enemy - Video : LINH DOAN

Love of country in The Grass on the Han River

The Han River Grass Carry is a historical play.

The heroic epic of patriotism of many unknown people always seems to have great power to move, so it is not difficult to explain why historical plays like Ganh co song Han have such a lasting vitality with cai luong lovers.

Many talented artists such as Minh Phung, Hoai Thanh, Ngoc Huong, Phuong Thanh… have left their mark in the first production of Ganh co song Han on the Doan Huong Mua Thu stage. Now the remake will inevitably meet the audience’s expectations.

This expectation is even more pressured when the cast is mostly young, including some from provincial cai luong troupes. None of them are considered box office cai luong stars.

Golden Bell of Traditional Opera Ngoc Doi (left, as Oanh Kieu) and Golden Rice Flower Bien Thuy (as Oanh Thuy)

Patience to train young people

The premiere night of Ganh co song Han on the evening of June 21 did not fill the theater, only reaching about 70%. This was not beyond the prediction of those who know about cai luong, even the WE manager previously said he was not afraid because the goal is to create conditions for young people to learn and work, so even if there is a loss, it is acceptable.

For that good purpose, playwright Hoang Song Viet and director Hoa Ha have accompanied producer Tuan Dat in this project. The Han River Grass Caravan still ensures seriousness and meticulousness in staging. However, unfortunately, the play lacks appeal.

This script is not too difficult, but it is… difficult for young people. It can be said that Ganh co song Han is suitable for audiences who like to listen to singing because there is a lot of singing.

However, with today's audience's taste, singing is not everything, but requires artists to know how to delve into the character's psychology and express it subtly. And many actors in the play revealed their confusion.

Even the two golden bells Minh Truong and Ngoc Doi in the two main roles also make viewers wonder.

Scene from the play The Carry of Grass on the Han River

Tran Dinh is a rather unique double, with his ability Minh Truong can completely make his role more unique, but on the night of June 21, he only stopped at a mediocre level, not excellent.

Perhaps due to health, Truong has not been able to show off his breath, making the audience feel like they have just listened to it.

Ngoc Doi has a beautiful voice but it seems like she still needs to work harder. The role of Oanh Kieu has the most difficult part, which is when she is sometimes sane, sometimes crazy to fool the enemy, but Doi's performance is still not convincing. Doi needs to save her energy because she will easily get tired towards the end.

Because the young actors' strength was not enough, the play sometimes became noisy and slowed down.

Golden Bell of Southern Folk Music Minh Truong as Tran Dinh - Photo: LINH DOAN

Cai Luong is a difficult art form, it cannot be improved in one or two days, or just through one play. The practitioner can share with the crew, but for the audience, the final product is still the most important, we cannot force them to sympathize for this or that reason.

Therefore, each stage project should create opportunities for about 3 or 4 young people to practice their skills. In addition, the play should also include talented people to support and ensure the play's appeal.

Pushing a bunch of young people into a play like Han River Grass Carry, but they are not strong enough to carry the play, is also quite dangerous.

On the banks of the Han River, Tran Ba's estate secretly trained war horses day and night to contribute to the cavalry of the Lam Son army, fighting against the Ming army that was trampling over the South.

The two orphaned sisters Oanh Kieu and Oanh Thuy were loved and taken care of by Tran Ba. Oanh Kieu was good at training and taming the leader horse Bach Long Phi, a war horse that even the Ming generals had to look up to.

Meanwhile, Tran Ba's only son, Tran Dinh, was greedy for fame and wealth, and despised the poor life of horse breeders. For personal gain, he was willing to turn his back on family, love, and the interests of the country.

One day, the fine horse Bach Long Phi was captured, while Le Loi's Lam Son army urgently needed war horses to prepare for the uprising.

In that sudden event, the people, the silent patriots, had to go through many hardships, even forgetting their lives to protect the horses for a greater cause.

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , director Hoa Ha said that everything takes time. For Vo Minh Lam to become as famous as he is today, he had to undergo training in more than ten cai luong plays and he has only shined for the past 4 or 5 years, even though he has been in the profession for nearly 20 years.

So she said that to love children, one must be patient and practice slowly, and accept that the first few things are clumsy and not as expected.

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LINH DOAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tiec-cho-ganh-co-song-han-20250622082153628.htm