'Me and Us' 40 Years of Freshness

'Me and Us' by author Luu Quang Vu is still hot and fresh after 40 years, revealing stories of the times.

This is the third time Luu Quang Vu's play has been re-staged - Photo: Hanoi Radio

In the audience seats of the premiere of the play " I and Us" opening the series of TV Stage programs (broadcast monthly on Hanoi Radio and Television), Ms. Luu Khanh Tho, sister of playwright Luu Quang Vu, cried.

She told Tuoi Tre , "In the past, Mr. Vu had a habit of standing on one side of the stage, nervously watching how the audience received his work." Today, after 40 years, she feels that feeling very clearly.

The play Me and Us was warmly received because it said what people wanted to say. At that time, many audiences cried, were happy, sad, and even bitter, but not pessimistic or desperate, but sparkling with faith in the good things in life.

People's Artist Hoang Cuc

Touch the deepest layer of the era

In 1984, the Hanoi Drama Theater commissioned Luu Quang Vu to write the script for Me and Us . The first production won the Gold Medal at the 1985 Theater Festival and was a theatrical phenomenon in the 1980s with 1,000 performances from North to South. To this day, no theatrical work has broken that record.

Set in the context of a fierce struggle between two conservative forces (represented by deputy director Nguyen Chinh) and reformers (director Hoang Viet) to change the organization and production methods at Thang Loi enterprise, I and We directly addresses the burning issues of Vietnamese society in the early stages of the renovation process.

The work affirms that there can be no general collectivism, and that old principles and methods cannot be maintained forever in the face of the dynamic changes of life.

The "we" is formed from many specific "I", so we need to care for and look after the rights and happiness of each person.

"The play is like a powerful bomb, encouraging the innovation movement, evoking the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, daring to take responsibility.

Luu Quang Vu, the prophet of the era, spoke for the most passionate hearts of people living in that special historical period," said Hoang Cuc (who played Thanh in the 1985 version).

Hoang Cuc said the play was tailor-made for the cast of that time. Besides Hoang Cuc, there were also Tran Van, Hoang Dung, Minh Trang, Quoc Toan, Minh Vuong, Hong Son, Tran Duc... The play was so popular that the artists took Toi va Chung Ta on tour from province to province. Especially in Ho Chi Minh City, there were times when there were up to 2-3 performances per day.

Hoang Cuc can never forget that golden age, when artists lived in a true art sanctuary, just stepping onto the stage or saying a few lines would make the audience applaud loudly.

She said, "Luu Quang Vu dared to live, dared to write tearful dialogues, depicting the nature of society at that time, creating a Me and Us that entered the memory of Vietnamese cultural and artistic culture of a period."

The play Me and Us was warmly received because it said what people wanted to say. At that time, many audiences cried, felt happy and sad, even bitter, but not pessimistic or desperate, but sparkling with faith in the good things in life.

Artist Hoang Cuc

The play Me and Us (1985) created a blockbuster in the theater world with 1,000 performances in the past - Photo archive

Meet Me and Us

After 40 years, the classic play returns with a new look, only 90 minutes to fit the TV broadcast time.

At the press conference to announce the series of TV Stage programs, Mr. Nguyen Kim Khiem - general director of the station - and artist Trung Hieu said they have no ambition to renew or create this "blockbuster" play of the theater industry.

"What the artists want is to fully convey the artistic value, message, and ideology of the work," Trung Hieu confided. The production features the most talented artists of the Hanoi Drama Theater today: Tien Loc, Thanh Huong, Ngoc Quynh, Thien Tung, Duc Quang, Diem Quynh...

Tien Loc, who plays Hoang Viet - a representative of the reformist faction, was born in 1986. Tien Loc did not have the opportunity to see the first version because he was still young.

When playing the role of Hoang Viet, he had to put himself in the atmosphere of that era to transform into a person with the desire to contribute, to innovate, and to make a contribution.

The third production is directed by People's Artist Trung Hieu, with the participation of many actors from Hanoi Drama Theater - Photo: Hanoi Radio

He said, "All of Luu Quang Vu's works are good. His characters are full of emotions, full of inner turmoil and want to say more than the framework of a play can say."

"It can be seen that the young artists have made efforts and lived and died for their roles," Hoang Cuc commented.

She said "there is no need to renew because the script is so attractive, still fresh after 40 years". She gave an example of the role of Thanh she played in the past, as long as the actress had sincerity, purity, and self-sacrifice, that was enough. Thanh Huong (Thanh) did that.

To her, the new generation of actors are young, beautiful, bright on stage and "fit the role".

Mr. Nguyen Kim Khiem said that during his high school years, his father took him to see the play "I and Us" at the August Theater ( Hai Phong ). He was "shocked" when he heard the lines: "We cannot use stability as an excuse to prevent the new", "Someone must take responsibility! Who is the collective? Who is ultimately responsible?"...

Tien Loc (left) and Thanh Huong in the new version of Me and Us - Photo: Hanoi Radio

He immediately wrote on the cover of the book Dingo Wild Dog with the date. When the idea for the TV Stage series was initiated, Hanoi Radio chose the play Luu Quang Vu, with Me and Us as the opening shot. Following that would be the play The 9th Oath (in cooperation with the Youth Theater).

"Luu Quang Vu is a prophet of our times in the language of the stage. Since the 1980s, he has written a work that is fresh, realistic and full of foreboding," he said.

Perhaps that is the reason why every time we enjoy Luu Quang Vu's works, we realize that we are not innocent in that giant, ever-changing reality.

BEANS

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/toi-va-chung-ta-40-nam-tuoi-moi-20250604092559115.htm