People's Artist Minh Tuệ: As long as I'm performing, I'll keep exploring and learning.

From the lead actor of the stage cAi Luong

Minh Tuệ was born into a family with no one pursuing a singing career, yet even while still in school, he harbored ambitions of joining the military, despite his natural singing talent. However, in 1983-1984, before he could fully dedicate himself to a career unrelated to the arts, he was approached and evaluated by the then Director of the Nghe Tinh Cai Luong (traditional Vietnamese opera) Troupe. This discerning individual had heard Minh Tuệ sing Cai Luong in a local-level competition and recognized the potential in this young man from Anh Son district.

After agreeing to join the cải lương (Vietnamese traditional opera) theater, Minh Tuệ was sent by the troupe to study theater intensively at the University of Theater and Film, where he was recognized as an outstanding student with high creativity in the acting classes. As expected, upon joining the troupe, Minh Tuệ quickly integrated and immediately took on leading roles. “Back then, we had so much fun performing. People crowded around, inside and outside the theater, which was always packed. Some nights, people crowded so much that they knocked down the theater’s iron fence,” recalled People’s Artist Minh Tuệ.

Therefore, the leading actors of the Cai Luong (Vietnamese traditional opera) troupe must first and foremost be talented actors with a stage-ready appearance. Minh Tue possessed all those qualities and quickly became famous throughout the professional theater scene nationwide. During his years living in the "luxury of Cai Luong," Minh Tue managed to win 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal. Notable roles include: Engineer Thanh Tung, who brought the light of culture and knowledge to the people in the highlands in "Xon Xao Rung Que" (The Cinnamon Forest); the dedicated doctor in "Dua Con Dong Doi" (The Comrade's Child); the cunning and cruel prime minister Solita in "Am Muoi Chong Cung" (The Royal Palace Conspiracy); and other memorable roles that, although not awarded medals, marked his journey into professional theater as a testament to his relentless pursuit of knowledge, hard work, and creativity.

Minh Tuệ is never satisfied with just one type of role; he is always exploring and experimenting with different types of roles, from singers and actors to villains; from politicians and kings to corrupt officials, he strives to fully capture the essence, personality, and demeanor of each character.

Then came the role of a lifetime...

When the system changed in 2001, the province's professional art troupes, including the White Lotus Cai Luong Troupe, the Nghe An Cheo Troupe, and the Nghe An Folk Song Troupe, merged into one troupe named the Nghe An Folk Song Theatre (later the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Nghe An Folk Song Heritage). Minh Tue was considered a key figure in steering the nascent folk drama movement. “Back then, each performance was a workshop; the director had to both teach acting and experiment with melodies and musical elements. Therefore, folk drama had to inherit a lot from traditional theatrical forms like Cai Luong or Cheo.” In those experimental stages, Minh Tue was not only a leading actor but also worked with the director to find new directions for folk drama. "If we only use folk songs and chants, we can't write plays. Plays need narrative sections and climactic dialogues, so we need main melodies like the 'Tu Hoa' borrowed from Cai Luong (Vietnamese traditional opera)... Therefore, after each play is staged, we hold a workshop, learning from experience as we go."

Moreover, during this period, theater was not as popular with audiences as before due to competition from other forms of entertainment. However, the Folk Song Theater still produced many quality plays, with Minh Tuệ being one of the key actors, both playing leading roles and working with the director to explore and develop the characters in the plays.

The role of village headman Tran Hoat in Vu Cat - Vu Quang Vinh, who won the gold medal at the National Professional Theatre Festival, is a character that has resonated throughout the country's theatre scene. The role of Tran Hoat is considered the best performance of the period in 2003-2004, to the point that wherever he went, people only referred to him as "village headman Tran Hoat" instead of the actor's name. To create a vivid, realistic Tran Hoat that was both representative of a social class and dramatic, Minh Tue spent many sleepless nights pondering how to make Tran Hoat appear complete, lively, and representative. “Initially, the director only requested that this role be a villainous one, that Tran Hoat portray a greedy, power-hungry village chief. But I thought that if those characteristics were shown directly, it wouldn't be very good, it wouldn't be impactful for this character. So I boldly suggested adding a touch of humor to Tran Hoat's laughter, speech, and handling of situations in the scenes. The humor would make Tran Hoat appear more cunning; the humor would subtly conceal the wickedness and insidious nature within him, and this character would be more impactful on stage,” Minh Tue said. From those concerns, this role deserved to be a turning point in Minh Tue's acting career during a time when theaters were no longer selling tickets, yet the Folk Song Theater still held hundreds of performances throughout Vietnam.

...And the roles that didn't win medals.

Speaking again about investing in high-value performances, Minh Tuệ recalled that, for him, the medal-winning roles were those in which he poured his sweat and tears, but there were also roles without medals that he remembered as important milestones in his life. “It made Minh Tuệ who he is and shaped my life on the folk opera stage,” Minh Tuệ said. That was the role of the traitor Trần Văn Bường in the play “Where the Land Lives,” one of the plays that participated in an international experimental theater competition. This competition was a workshop hosted by Vietnam, with participation from countries with developed theaters such as Japan, China, France, and Australia. This experiment was organized to revitalize the country's theater, which was on a downward trend. The play “Where the Land Lives,” directed by the masterful theater director Lê Hùng, featured new experimental approaches from scenery to acting. Minh Tuệ recalled: “The role of Bường was quite complex. The actor had to portray both the cowardly and treacherous psychology of betraying his comrades, and the inner turmoil, fear, and remorse he felt upon returning after many years away, upon seeing the grave of his son, a fallen soldier.” Minh Tuệ said that the literary plot and script gave him a lot of inspiration. In addition, the creative stage design, using only six bamboo poles for all the scenes, created special theatrical effects. It was precisely this special effect that allowed Minh Tuệ to deliver a masterful performance in the scene where Bường returns home to say goodbye to his wife and children before fleeing to America. Bường, fearing pursuit by the Viet Minh, nimbly climbed the bamboo poles. “This particular scene really impressed the director. Hung said he was surprised I handled it so well. I think it's just because I was lucky when I was little and used to climb betel nut trees to pick fruit for my mother, so I was able to improvise quickly,” Minh Tue recounted.

The role that, while he believes didn't earn him any medals from the festival, earned him many medals from audiences who love folk theater: the character of General Vo Nguyen Giap in the play "A Girl's Sky" in 2013. The play was created after the General's death, a time of national mourning for the Vietnamese people. Out of gratitude, the actors from the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Nghe An Folk Heritage poured all their energy, dedication, and emotion into each of their roles. Minh Tue, in particular, meticulously studied every gesture, gait, voice, and intonation of the General in each situation; the General's laughter, his gaze when interacting with soldiers and the people. “Honestly, I felt very nervous when I took on this role, but the more difficult and challenging it was, the more determined I was to succeed. Luckily, after the performance, many people praised me, saying, ‘That’s so realistic, Mr. Tuệ!’ This play was performed in many places, provinces, and cities, and received very positive feedback from audiences and professionals. That is an invaluable reward for me, a glittering medal on my chest even though I wasn’t awarded a prize.” – Minh Tuệ said.

Throughout his stage career, he has played various roles, from kings to traitors and politicians, leaving a strong impression on audiences. Despite having won 9 gold medals and 3 silver medals, Minh Tuệ always believes he still has much more to strive for. As long as he continues to perform, he will continue to explore, learn, and hone his skills, even though he now mentors younger generations.

For folk music to spread widely, it needs to be passed on, and for People's Artist Minh Tuệ, to pass it on, artists need to be shining examples in their work and studies. Because for a People's Artist who has dedicated her life to the stage, simply performing makes life so beautiful.