The director breathes the soul of the countryside into each play.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of modern life, there is a man who persists in preserving and spreading the traditional cultural values of his homeland through the theater stage. He is Tran Duy Thang (born in 1953), a talented director from Anh Son village, who is determined to dedicate his life to breathing the soul of his homeland into each play, turning dry scripts into lively works, imbued with the breath of existential life and love for his homeland and country.
Quietly breathing life into the village theater stage
The stage lights came on, and the amateur actorsHoa Son commune (Anh Son)came out to greet the audience. After a few initial moments of suspense, they began to transform into the emotional characters of the play "The Magic Photo". On the stage, Mr. Tran Duy Thang quietly observed, worried and excited about each role; and then, burst into joy when the play won the first prize in the district. In April 2024, the non-professional actors of Hoa Son commune continued to bring this play to the provincial competition, and were honored to win the third prize in the final round of the "Communication on preventing and combating domestic violence" contest.
When talking about Mr. Thang, the people of Anh Son always have sincere affection for that man, because in the hustle and bustle of modern life, he still quietly preserves the traditional cultural values of the nation through local mass performances.
Cherishing the book published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2013 with the title “Sketch of propaganda against domestic violence”, Mr. Thang said that the sketch “When we understand” composed by him was a finalist nationwide that year. Later, when selecting the 24 best works to be printed into a book, his work was chosen for publication.
Browse the library for booksstage propaganda script, it is not difficult to come across his works. For example, the collection "Selected plays from the amateur stage script writing camp" of the Nghe An Department of Culture and Sports has the work "Whose fault is it"; the collection of Short plays of the Nghe An Exhibition Information Center (now the Nghe An Provincial Cultural Center) has the work "Democracy in my hometown" composed by him.
Most of these works were directed by him to amateur troupes in Anh Son district to compete and win high prizes at festivals. People are familiar with the image of Mr. Tran Duy Thang who devotedly spent hours instructing each movement and each line of dialogue to amateur actors - farmers, workers or ordinary civil servants. Whenever a line was not performed well, he patiently explained and demonstrated until everything became smooth.
The stage is not just a place to act, but a place to feel, to live with the character, with the story you tell...
Mr. Tran Duy Thang
Therefore, many extras were initially hesitant and shy when standing in front of a crowd, but under Mr. Thang's guidance, they gradually became more confident and mastered the stage, becoming amateur actors in the village. Although he has passed his seventies, Mr. Tran Duy Thang still continues to compose and contribute to the amateur theater. Due to his enthusiasm, many agencies, schools and communes in the district have sought him out to write scripts, stage programs and practice performances.
The topics he chooses to compose often revolve around hot social issues, such as domestic violence, grassroots democracy, or traditional moral values that are gradually fading away in modern life. For him, art must reflect life, must have an impact on the audience, must help them re-evaluate themselves and worry about social life. The greatest "reward" he receives is the joy and pride of seeing his plays shine on stage, and traditional cultural values are preserved and spread.
In the past, Mr. Tran Duy Thang had 3 plays that won first and second prizes at the provincial level and nearly 10 plays that won high prizes at district level competitions. At the same time, he also staged scenes for folk song performances, thereby making a meaningful contribution to promoting the local cultural movement.
Light up love with traditional cultural values
Few people know that the origin of Mr. Thang’s valuable contributions to the local cultural movement comes from a love of traditional cultural values that he was nurtured with since childhood. Going back in time to 1953, Tran Duy Thang was born in Phu Linh village (now hamlet 5) of Linh Son commune, Anh Son district.
Is it becauseLinh Sonis a land of beautiful mountains and rivers, with the poetic Lam River winding around, with undulating hills and mountains, where the souls of the people here passionately love the folk songs Vi and Giam. This land is also considered one of the "cradles" of Nghe An folk songs Vi and Giam in the movement "Singing to Overpower the Bombs" during the resistance war against America.
Growing up in that environment, Tran Duy Thang soon revealed his talent for folk singing in children's performances. The boy caught the eye of the commune's cultural officers and was guided to grow up on the path of art. From the age of 10, Thang was able to participate in volunteer art troupes, leaving his mark in the hearts of the people.
In 1970, the Nghe Tinh Cheo Troupe organized a recruitment campaign, and Tran Duy Thang, who was only 17 years old at the time, boldly joined. (At that time, Nghe Tinh province had 5 stage art troupes, including: Nghe Tinh Music and Dance Troupe, Nghe Tinh Folk Song Troupe, Nghe Tinh Cheo Troupe, Nghe Tinh Cai Luong Troupe, Nghe Tinh Drama Troupe). After strict tests on singing, rhythm and physique, he was selected.
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After only one year with the troupe, the director assigned him his first role as a soldier named Son in the play "Co gai song Lam." He then went on to play the role of Bo Gia Xuan - the teacher of the Prince in the play "Tam Cam." These roles were all difficult, as they required him to portray many complex psychological developments, but he overcame them all.
After the success of these two Cheo plays, Tran Duy Thang was quickly entrusted with many different roles, from villain to protagonist, from humorous to thoughtful, from mandarin to commoner. His diverse acting ability helped him become one of the outstanding Cheo artists of Nghe Tinh Cheo Troupe, contributing significantly to "keeping the fire" of traditional stage art in his homeland.
After 17 years of working with the Cheo troupe, because his family had two martyrs, the State created conditions for him to go to the Russian Federation to work. During his time abroad, although his main job was working in a factory, he still organized traditional cultural programs with the Vietnamese community.
Until 1991, he returned to Vietnam, because he was too old to be attached to professional art, he joined the mass art movement with his neighbors. Many people were guided by him, imparting knowledge to spread the love for traditional art.
Among them, we must mention Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa Dao (born in 1974) - Vice Principal of Tuong Son Kindergarten, who was guided by him since she was a young teacher. Thanks to that, she won many high prizes at the district lullaby singing contest and second prize in the provincial drama contest on learning about grassroots democracy regulations in 2020. These successes helped her continue to maintain her love for the stage and achieve many high achievements locally.
Thanks to the guidance of Mr. Tran Duy Thang, I and many people in the district not only learned acting skills but also understood more deeply the cultural values of our homeland.
The love of theater and pride in traditional culture that he instilled in me is the motivation and inspiration for me to continue pursuing my passion and preserving the precious cultural values of my homeland...
Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa Dao - Vice Principal of Tuong Son Kindergarten
