People's Artist An Ninh: Vows to be a 'silkworm spinning silk' for life

When talking about him, people also talk about the silent dedication of an artist who devoted more than half of his life to Vi and Giam. Recently, he was honored by the State as a People's Artist - a worthy honor and recognition for those silent contributions.

Silent love vi, giam

An Ninh said: “I don’t know why I loved Vi and Giam since I was young. From a very young age, I had a desire to pursue this career until my last breath!” He said that he joined the Nghe Tinh Folk Song Troupe in the 80s of the 20th century and was sent to study with the expectation of becoming a leading actor. He studied and acted at the same time and was assigned important roles. At that time, he secretly thought that he would follow the path of an actor to transform into lives and people through the folk songs of his homeland Vi and Giam.

However, in his twenties, People's Artist An Ninh loved the work of adapting scripts. He often watched directors work on stage and adapted scenes and scenes himself; sometimes to contemplate for himself, sometimes to perform for his friends. Until one day, fate came to him when the famous adaptor, musician Vi Phong, at that time, trusted him with a 12-minute segment from the play "Nang Mai Te Chong", asking him to do it quickly to "present". So he put all his heart and knowledge into creating the assigned folk opera adaptation. Upon receiving his product, musician Vi Phong was amazed and immediately An Ninh's adaptation was used to his surprise and joy.

In 1991, when Nghe Tinh province split into two provinces, An Ninh was transferred to the Ha Tinh Folk Song Troupe. In the new environment, he felt somewhat lost. At the same time, the Nghe An Cheo Troupe merged with the Nghe An Folk Song Troupe to form the Nghe An Folk Song Theatre, and the Theatre members wanted An Ninh to return. He returned to Nghe An after only 1 year away, and from that point on, An Ninh was quickly assigned the role of regularly adapting scripts for important plays.

Deciding to leave the spotlight and quietly retreat behind the scenes with a writing career, People's Artist An Ninh shared another reason: he is the husband of artist Hong Luu. "When Luu is happy, I am happy, and that's why I don't want to focus on acting anymore, I just want to focus on writing to be a solid support for Luu" - he confided.

The writing path of the man who loves Vi, Giam and his wife is “paved” by his multi-talented, artistically demanding wife. Hong Luu is the first audience, also the first “judge” for each work, each adapted play of her husband; the work must pass the “barrier” of People’s Artist Hong Luu before it can reach the director and the troupe’s board of directors, and touch the hearts of the public.

The result of thrift

Although not trained in any school, People's Artist An Ninh always surprises those in the profession, because he can adapt great works with his creative pen and breath. These are plays that are highly appreciated for both content and art such as: "A man and two women", "A family heirloom", "A sinful item", "A fairy tale in everyday life"... Each work has its own mark on life and connoisseurs. Typical examples are the Second Prize of the Ho Xuan Huong Literature and Arts Award with the play "A sinful item", or "A fairy tale in everyday life" which won the Award of the Nghe An Literature and Arts Association.

Importantly, many plays written and adapted by him have received much love and admiration from the audience, typically the play "A Mr. Two Mrs" - a play with a strong Nghe character, wherever the troupe performs, the audience there enthusiastically requests. An Ninh said: For each play, he carefully polishes every ambiguous sentence, every four-line sentence; each dialogue is carefully placed in the right context of the character, pushing the climax of each stage of the play. In addition, he has to understand the strengths of each actor, choosing the right melody for each role. From there, the words and melodies are distilled by him to be concise, meaningful and rich in emotion, helping the actors to be inspired and sublimated when entering the role.

“If the script I adapt when I give the actors a rehearsal, they are not moved, or do not get into the act, I immediately throw it away and do it again” – People’s Artist An Ninh said. That concern increasingly ignites his passion for the profession, always reminding himself to make each play better than the last, each play must be more perfect than the last.

40 plays adapted from literary scripts to folk scripts in 40 years of working are the tireless creative process of People's Artist An Ninh. Like a silkworm spinning silk, he is a silent artist behind the scenes who brings glory to the actors of the Provincial Traditional Arts Center. Dozens of works adapted from his scripts participated in professional festivals and performances nationwide and won Gold Medals, such as: "Looking into the past" (Gold Medal of the National Folk Drama Festival in 2005); "One tree does not make a mountain", "The executioner" (Gold Medal of the National Folk Drama Festival in 2010); Race in the dark (Gold Medal in 2013); Teacher and student (Gold Medal in 2016); The case of Am But Muong (2020); Halo (Silver Medal in 2022); “Stork in the Storm” (Gold Medal 2022)…

Particularly for the two works “Words of Man, Words of the Country” and “One Tree Does Not Make a Mountain”, People’s Artist An Ninh was selected by the Art Council and awarded the “Outstanding Adaptation Author” award at the National Folk Song and Drama Festival in 2010 and the Campaign to Study and Follow Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Example in 2008.

With a deep love for Nghe Tinh folk songs, People's Artist An Ninh has increasingly flourished in his writing career. He has made a mark of success with hundreds of songs based on Vi and Giam folk melodies, making those songs "memorable" to many artists and audiences in Nghe An. These are "Mother's Songs", "Con Thuyen Vi and Giam", "Ben Dong Lam Giang", "Duyen Tinh Cau Vi Que Huong", "Lung Linh Hon Que Xu Nghe"...

People's Artist An Ninh is also experienced in staging programs for events and celebrations such as the highly appreciated programs "Sao Nam Songs", "Xo Viet Nghe Tinh", "Love of Communists"... In 2022, 2 programs for which he wrote the script won Gold Medals at festivals: "Sac" and "Thanh am ve mien vi, giam".

Composing is a career, and acting is a profession, so in 2016, the Provincial Traditional Arts Center asked him to take on a role in the play “Teacher and Student”, and he immediately demonstrated his fluency. This role received the Gold Medal of the National Festival. Similarly, in 2020, his role in the play “The 13th Person”, in 2022, the role of Mr. Duc in the play “Vang Sang” that he played was also awarded the prestigious Gold Medal.

Up to now, People's Artist An Ninh has retired, but his passion and career still shine. He is often invited to collaborate in many programs and activities of the Provincial Traditional Arts Center as a scriptwriter and adaptation author. He said: "Writing is an urge from deep within me. If I don't pick up my pen every day to write about Vi and Giam, I will be very sad...!".