Luu Quang Vu is one of the most prominent figures of Vietnam’s
contemporary drama scene. A festival last month in Hanoi featured his 13
plays, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of the famed
playwright. The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reports.
Hanoians were
treated to a special theatrical event, the festival of plays by talented
playwright Luu Quang Vu in early September. The festival, which
commemorated the 25th anniversary of the death of Vu, featured his 13
plays. Vu’s works now remain relevant to the present days and still
appealing to the audiences.
The festival, organised by the
Vietnam Stage Artists Association, took place from September 9 to 16 in
Hanoi, involving nine art troupes, including the Vietnam Drama Theatre,
The Youth Theatre, the Hanoi Cheo (traditional opera) Theatre and Hai
Phong Cheo Theatre.
The best-known plays performed included
“Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit” (Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher’s Body),
“Trai Tim Trong Trang” (Pure Heart), “Ong Khong Phai La Bo Toi” (You Are
Not My Dad), and “Mua Ha Cuoi Cung” (The Last Summer).
The newly-arranged performances, which combined cinematic and language techniques, greatly impressed the audience.
Written in the 1970s and 1980s, Vu’s plays tell stories about real
life, containing lessons about honesty, courage, struggle and shunning
the bad and the wrong ideas, which are still vitally relevant now.
Truong Nhuan, Director of the Youth Theatre, told VOV: “Luu Quang Vu
was one of the most prominent figures of Vietnam’s contemporary drama
scene. He has not yet been replaced in his role as the nation’s most
important contemporary dramatist.”
The week-long festival saw
crowds of audiences with major venues in Hanoi such as Workers’ Theatre,
Dai Nam and Youth theaters all being fully occupied. Audiences of
different ages experienced a range of different tones and moods.
The play “Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher’s Body” reflects the struggle
between the soul and the body, between the lusts and the ideals in order
for a person to become him/herself.
Family relations, changes
in social norms, moral degradation and the lust for money are all
themes of the play “You Are Not My Dad”.
Nhuan was much
appreciative of Vu’s works: “Many professional theatres and troupes
continue to stage Vu’s plays, demonstrating that his works unleashed the
breath of life and connected with the public. His works bear humane
characteristics and aggressively rage against the evil and wrong and
yearn for social fairness.”
Killed in a traffic accident aged
41, when his talent had reached its maturity, Vu left a huge legacy of
50 scripts. They were of various genres and “Truong Ba’s Soul in a
Butcher’s Body” became an eternal part of Vietnam’s theatrical history.
People’s Artist Doan Chau, former Director of the Vietnam
Drama Theater, a friend and colleague of playwright Vu, told VOV:“We
performed ‘Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher’s Body’ in a drama festival in
Moscow in 1986. After watching it, a German critic said: ‘This is a bomb
in the middle of the festival.’ It has stirred an explosion in
Vietnam’s dramatic theatres.
“Later on, the play was staged in
30 states across the US and won acclaim from American audiences, most
of whom were young people and students. So I think ‘Truong Ba’s Soul in a
Butcher’s Body’ is a piece of work by Vu that will last forever.”
The Hanoi festival once again highlighted the stature of Luu Quang
Vu, who helped elevate Vietnam’s drama to a peak that some contemporary
artists can only dream of.-VNA