Meritorious Artist plays Uncle Ho 2,000 times and deeply remembers transforming into the image of the person reading the Declaration of Independence

Moved by emotion when transforming into the image of Uncle Ho reading the Declaration of Independence

Ta Hong Duong is an early actor of Nghe Tinh folk theater. His first role was to transform into the image of President Ho Chi Minh in 1998 in the play "Famous people grow up from the folk songs, Giam". This is a work about Uncle Ho's childhood until he left to find a way to save the country, performed on stages across the country from 1998 to 2007, winning many prestigious awards. In this play, through symbolic and stylized artistic techniques, the image of the mother, with lullabies, folk songs, and folk songs of the homeland, nurtured a great soul and personality. From the boy Nguyen Sinh Cung who grew up with the melodies of his homeland to the young man Nguyen Tat Thanh with his luggage to find a way to save the country. The play also has many scenes of Uncle Ho at the Northern Palace; Uncle Ho reading the Declaration of Independence on the windy Ba Dinh Square...

To transform into this role, Meritorious Artist Hong Duong put himself under a lot of pressure. “The director told me about the simple but great image of Him and I imagined it through many years of studying and researching historical documents, but honestly, when I entered the performance classes on the rehearsal floor, I still could not get into His spirit. It took a long time of practice for me to receive praise from experts.”

Meritorious Artist Hong Duong also said that the most difficult thing in playing the role of Uncle Ho is not practicing until it is as similar as possible, but how to convey to the audience Uncle Ho's feelings, his warmth, simplicity and greatness.

Those worries turned into long sleepless nights just to research historical documents about Him, hours of practice in front of the mirror just because of a demeanor, a look, a gesture, a word when Uncle Ho talked to his compatriots, when talking to children,...

And to have such a close image of Uncle Ho, Meritorious Artist Hong Duong said that, in addition to studying history and documents about Uncle Ho, he proactively met historical witnesses such as Mr. Vu Ky - Uncle Ho's Secretary, Professor Hoang Chi Bao... to enrich his knowledge and understanding of President Ho Chi Minh.

Meritorious Artist Hong Duong said: “Our Uncle Ho was fluent in many foreign languages, so his pronunciation had very different and unique words. What is special is that he pronounced very clearly with a Nghe An accent. Even the sentence: “I say, do you hear, compatriots?” also had a Nghe Tinh accent, making listeners feel warm and extremely close. “The person there on the stage was so dear and close,” Meritorious Artist Hong Duong said emotionally when thinking about the times he played the role of Uncle Ho.

The scene of Uncle Ho reading the Declaration of Independence on the podium was practiced by Meritorious Artist Hong Duong many times. Speaking clearly in Uncle Ho's voice and using gestures to express his feelings was something that had to be practiced not only in a few days but also absorbed over many weeks and months.

He confided, when he stepped onto the stage with the scene of Uncle Ho reading the Declaration of Independence:"Dear compatriots of the whole country.All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”This was the most difficult part, he had to practice many times, to match the tone and intonation of Uncle Ho's voice, both proud and enthusiastic, yet close and warm. When he said Uncle Ho's words: "I say, do you hear me?" the audience applauded loudly. Many people wiped their tears with handkerchiefs. He understood that he had expressed that sentiment, the sacred sentiment that Uncle Ho had for the people and the whole country.

With his role in “Famous people grow up from the folk songs”, Meritorious Artist Ta Hong Duong was awarded the best actor award at the professional theater festival 2 years later. From this role, he quickly emerged in the theater world nationwide as the person who played Uncle Ho most effectively and impressively. From his gait, arm span, hug, voice and eyes when he met the children, when he visited his hometown to meet his neighbors, when he met the heroes of the armed forces and even when he met foreign politicians, all were carefully studied by Meritorious Artist Ta Hong Duong and portrayed in the most spiritual and emotional way.

More than 2,000 times on stage to play Uncle Ho

Until now, Meritorious Artist Ta Hong Duong is still trusted to play the role of Uncle Ho in classic plays such as "His Words, the Words of the Country". "His Words, the Words of the Country" once won a Special Prize in the campaign to study and follow Uncle Ho.

People's Artist Hong Luu said: "Five months after the play premiered, the campaign "Studying and following the ideology, morality and style of President Ho Chi Minh" was a great motivation and encouragement for the artists of the Provincial Traditional Arts Center at that time."

After that, there were consecutive nights of packed performances, sobbing with emotion, and endless applause. Up to now, after more than 15 years since the play was first performed, there have been thousands of performances from North to South, from Central to local. During the years of touring, Meritorious Artist Ta Hong Duong has always been given the responsibility of transforming into the image of Ho Chi Minh.

“Every time the troupe performs this play, I look in the mirror and practice imagining Uncle Ho and every time I feel excited when I step on stage, when I am greeted with warm eyes and endless applause,” Meritorious Artist Ta Hong Duong recalls.

To date, Meritorious Artist Hong Duong estimates that he has played the role of Uncle Ho on stage 2,000 times. Each time gives him a special feeling of happiness and each time he always reminds himself to improve his skills, his courage and the qualities of an artist, who is always entrusted with the responsibility of portraying the image of beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

With a process of serious, diligent and dedicated work in art, in 2012 he was honored to be awarded the title of Meritorious Artist by the State, accumulating many gold and silver medals in professional stage performances, Medal for the cause of Vietnamese stage; Medal for the cause of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, People's Committees of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces for artistic activities.

Those are valuable spiritual rewards, worthy of his serious working attitude, and he can be proud that not a single moment of his life devoted to art has passed meaninglessly.