'The Five-Colored Stone' - a musical about the boy Thien Nhan

Before the Pentagram   When Thien Nhan was born, Mrs. Tran Mai Anh, Thien Nhan's mother, hesitated a bit when deciding whether or not to tell the story of her and her son in a play. Many years had passed since the movie Thien Nhan's Fire brought tears to countless audiences, and she was afraid that Thien Nhan's story would become old to everyone. "But my friend said that the story was not old at all, it needed to be told more," Mrs. Mai Anh recalled.

The boy Thien Nhan will be sad, happy, and hopeful in The Five-Colored Stone.

Finally, Ms. Mai Anh also found that Thien Nhan's story of humanity, of the human-to-human connections on the road he traveled, was worth retelling in many artistic languages. That was not only for him, but for many other children in similar circumstances. Moreover, the story of humanity will never get old.

The Five-Colored Stone , therefore, according to the General Director, Meritorious Artist Cao Ngoc Anh, is a musical about faith and love. The play conveys the message "If we believe, miracles will appear". The production team wants faith to spread, miracles to reach, so that Mai Anh's Thien Nhan, as well as many other "Thien Nhan" who were severely burned and lost their genitals, can be treated and healed.

After-school rehearsals for the young actors

According to the organizers, since 2006, Ms. Mai Anh has sought every way to treat Thien Nhan, a boy who was abandoned and had his genitals eaten by animals. Traveling through many countries, holding many hands, when the mother and son found hope, at the same time, they also lit the fire of hope for many children with genital disabilities across the country. These were once difficult to talk about disabilities, not cared for and rarely had treatment methods, but then the Thien Nhan & Friends program was born.

Ms. Cao Ngoc Anh said that the theme of faith is repeated throughout the play. The Aria My Child, Don't Be Afraid , lyrics by Khanh Duong, music by Minh Dao, is both the feelings of Mother Coi (the affectionate name of Ms. Mai Anh - PV) when standing outside the operating room hallway, and also the words in the hearts of the doctors who are treating Thien Nhan (performed by Pham Nam Phong, champion of Familiar Faces 2022).

In the climax of Act 2, Dr. Greig (inspired by Thien Nhan's real-life adoptive father) stops the operation in exhaustion; but his faith motivates him to fight for the child's life.

Thien Nhan always has family by his side

The Five-Colored Stone is a production with many child actors. They sing and rap very naturally and emotionally. The young band Chicktown plays live throughout the play. To complete the play, these actors came to the theater right after the afternoon class ended at 4:30 p.m., then practiced from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

In return, the children recreated Thien Nhan's innocent yet thorny journey, when he had to overcome prejudice, pitying looks, pain, and sarcasm to grow up, integrate, and nurture his belief in goodness.

For the Youth Theatre, this is the next effort in staging purely Vietnamese musicals. "We continue to build standards for the theatre's musicals," said Ms. Cao Ngoc Anh.

The young actors must all have the ability to perform "3 in 1": dancing, acting and singing. All are aimed at being able to tell the story of Vietnam right here on this land, and further to bring it to the world .

The Five-Colored Stone is scheduled to premiere in November. A portion of the musical's proceeds will be donated to the Thien Nhan & Friends Fund. "We hope that each audience member who comes to the musical can also bring home a Five-Colored Stone for themselves. Life always needs faith in fairy tales, and the symbol created by the Youth Theater is to spread that faith," said Mother Coi Tran Mai Anh, founder and director of the Thien Nhan & Friends program, about the play.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/vien-da-ngu-sac-nhac-kich-ve-cau-be-thien-nhan-185231024194914205.htm