'The audience's sympathy is the artist's greatest reward'

Reporter: Dear People's Artist Hong Luu, it is known that Nghe Tinh traditional theater has been built and developed for 60 years. Through many ups and downs, the stage lights are always bright and always have a prestigious place in the hearts of the audience. So, please tell us how we have built and developed those stages to achieve the remarkable achievements today?

People's Artist Hong Luu (right) and co-star. Photo: FBNV

People's Artist Hong Luu:Traditional Nghe Tinh Folk Songs Stage is many years behind other forms such as Cai Luong, Cheo, and Tuong, but right from the first steps we have determined to build a solid foundation for it to have long strides, worthy of the foundation of Nghe Tinh Folk Songs that has existed for hundreds of years.

From the first steps, with many difficulties and hardships, many predecessors have contributed greatly to the formation and development of Nghe folk songs. Because at that time, the melodies in Nghe folk songs could not be developed into drama classes, so we had to borrow a lot from other genres. For example, musician Thanh Luu, who successfully adapted the "Khuyen" melody from Cheo, or musician Nguyen Van Tu, who successfully Nghe-ized the "Lip Lo" melody, also borrowed from Cheo...

The play "Hoa lua Truong Bon" by author Nguyen The Ky was warmly received by the audience. In the photo: A scene performed by People's Artist Hong Luu. Photo: Thanh Nga

After successfully experimenting and gradually perfecting the performances, the first plays were born such as "Chiec plow Ong Tu", "Khi ban doi di nang" (Nguyen Trung Phong)... and received warm affection from the audience. Later, when those small plays had a place in the hearts of the audience, we boldly adapted "Co gai song Lam", initially from the cheo melody, into Nghe Tinh folk song drama, causing a great resonance in the professional world, as well as in the hearts of the public nationwide at that time. The play is also an excellent historical film that will be passed down to future generations along with the name of the screenwriter Nguyen Trung Phong.

A scene from the play "Hoa lua Truong Bon". Photo: FBNV

PV: Yes, right from the first days of entering the traditional stage, we have quickly built a solid position for ourselves in life as well as in the music community. So it can be said that the traditional Nghe An folk music stage is considered a place to convey the breath of life as well as a place for us to convey the Party's platform and policies and the State's policies and laws?

People's Artist Hong Luu:That's right, the traditional stage of Nghe An can be considered as a place to reflect reality vividly, dramatize hot issues in life, thereby conveying and orienting new policies of the Party and the State. Typically, from the years 1980 - 1990, after we had a strong army of actors, talented and dedicated scriptwriters and directors, we have produced many good works in both art and content. Every time the productions such as: “Two Thousand Days of Wrongs”, “The Ninth Oath” (author Vu Hai), “Mai Thuc Loan” (author Phan Luong Hao), “The Girl of the Lam River” (author Nguyen Trung Phong)… are premiered, the audience comes in droves, some people watch it over and over again still yearning to meet the actors and artists performing to express their admiration. It is also these works that have given the theater many great awards, many Gold Medals in professional performances and festivals nationwide.

People's Artist Hong Luu in a scene of the play "Hoa lua Truong Bon". Photo: FBNV

After these works, the troupe was welcomed wherever they went, and at every performance, other troupes were waiting for us to watch, absorb, and contemplate. Not only were the plays of the troupe good in terms of artistic materials, but each of the troupe's plays in the 80s and 90s of the last century also reflected vivid reality, carried guiding values, and life messages. We were not afraid to speak frankly, to speak truthfully, to talk about the evils of buying positions, buying power, bureaucracy, conservatism, voluntarism, clinging, and competing with each other, and also spoke frankly about the evils of corruption and embezzlement through very real but literary stories, and we made a big splash in this topic area.

Until the early years of the 21st century, we had many extremely successful plays when we quickly anticipated the changes of the times, but always closely followed the Party's platform and policies and the State's laws. I can say that Nghe Tinh traditional theater is a revolutionary theater, where the Party's will and the people's hearts can be expressed. During that period, the plays "The 9th Oath", "Mother's Pain", "Tears of the Youngest Child", "The Right to Happiness", "Me and Us", "The Price of Life to Pay"... caused a stir in the public as well as in the profession. Those were plays that talked about the times, the fate of people in the course of world affairs, and above all, strongly conveyed the determination to fight against evil, no matter where, in what position and environment. There were scenes that made the whole theater sob, because the actors portrayed the characters' personalities and psychology so well. But more importantly, we, the actors, were truly moved when Nghe An folk songs were successfully transformed into plays.

The play "When the Team Leader is Away" by Nguyen Trung Phong was restored by the Dien Binh Commune Mass Arts Team during the Art Exchange Night with playwright Nguyen Trung Phong. Photo: Thanh Nga

PV: When talking about Ms. Nghe in the play “The Girl of the Lam River” (author Nguyen Trung Phong), we seem to recall the time when wherever the theater actress went, people “surrounded” her, there were ticket sales at Ben Thuy Theater where the audience came packed, there was no room to stand. With this role, although many people had succeeded before, People's Artist Hong Luu is still considered one of the artists who most successfully played the role of Ms. Nghe. Please tell us some of your feelings about the role of Ms. Nghe and the women you played during the period when Nghe folk drama was built and matured.

A scene from the play "Lam River Girl" by playwright Nguyen Trung Phong. Photo: Thanh Cuong

People's Artist Hong Luu:Not only the role of Ms. Nghe, but also the women I play are always carefully invested in by me. I research from the image, identity to the inner self of a literary lyrical character. Therefore, each role I play has its own qualities of a girl from Nghe An, passionate, earnest but also straightforward and resilient. In particular, for many roles, I even asked the director for permission to adapt the folk song script of my role to have a more complete emotional experience, and fortunately, many directors agreed and gradually trusted me. That is Mother Hoang Thi Loan in "Famous people grow up from cau ho vi, giam"; the role of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in "Sang mai niem tin". In many plays, I was also the one who directly adapted the entire script, not just my main role, such as when I played the role of Nu in "Gia doi phai tra"; Xara in "Nguoi dep khong tim", Huyen in "Vet chan trong bao ton".

Speaking of Ms. Nghe in “The Lam River Girl”, this is a role with a lot of room to perform. Anyone who is assigned this role feels extremely proud and honored, but also extremely pressured, because it requires the opera actor to invest a lot in acting as well as singing. Because stage opera actors are different from normal opera actors, in addition to expressing through gestures, actions, and words, they also have to have a very good singing voice, both expressing the character's psychology and revealing the beauty of folk music. The role of Ms. Nghe has given me maturity as well as the glory of the period when Nghe Tinh folk opera flourished.

PV: So if you were asked to describe your mark on Nghe An folk theater, what would you say?

People's Artist Hong Luu:I have been with the folk theatre since the early days, from a newbie actress, to the main actors, then to the artistic director. In every position, I have tried my best to bring to the Nghe Tinh Folk Theatre a contemporary breath, integrated but not dissolved, unique and imbued with Nghe.

As an actor, I always study and research so that when I play a role, I can best portray the character's image. At the same time, I am always bold in experimenting with new knowledge and exploration so that Nghe Tinh folk opera is always preserved but always keeps up with the trends of the times.

For many years as an art director, I have always tried to learn to enrich the stage. Any night of performance, wherever we are, we are worthy of being talented and passionate Nghe Tinh stage actors. From choosing the topic to choosing the production team to changing the scene and performance space, I always try to make the actors always radiate enthusiasm, heart and love for the profession.

The play "Dawn" by author Nguyen The Ky, performed to the audience in 2019, immediately attracted a large audience, causing a lot of buzz in the professional world. Photo: Luong Van

PV: So are you worried about the changes in artistic tastes, making audiences no longer excited about traditional theater, especially in this 4.0 technology era?

People's Artist Hong Luu:Even though we are no longer welcomed everywhere, it does not mean that the audience no longer loves us, nor that they do not come to traditional theater. Nowadays, although the audience share is smaller, everyone who comes to our performances cannot help but be moved and praise us. Recently, when we performed works such as “Hoa lua Truong Bon” and “Hung Dong” by author Nguyen The Ky, there were still many audiences coming. We also saw tears falling on the faces of young audiences, proving that they sympathized with the play and loved the theater. That is the greatest reward, the greatest medal for us artists. And this also affirms that traditional theater will never lose its glory in the hearts of the public.

PV: Thank you, People's Artist Hong Luu, for this conversation!