Young artists from the Huỳnh Long Tuồng Troupe of HCM City offer a new performance style for tuồng plays. — Photo courtesy of Huỳnh Long Tuồng Troupe

HCM CITY — Huỳnh Long Tuồng (classical drama), a newly opened private art troupe in HCM City, will offer a series of new shows featuring young artists next week. 

The first play, Ngũ Biến Báo Phu Cừu (Vengeance), a famous cải lương (reformed opera) production from the 1990s, will be restaged in a new version of tuồng, a traditional theatre of the central region. 

It features stories about ambition, love and betrayal.   

Young talents Đăng Khoa, Thái Vinh, Mỹ Châu and Quốc Thanh, graduates of the HCM City University of Theatre & Cinematography, play the leading roles. 

Bình Tinh, winner of the Chuông Vàng Vọng Cổ (Golden Bell) Awards 2016, a national cải lương contest presented annually by HCM Television, will also be featured.

The second play, Mặt Trời Đêm Thế Kỷ (Sun after the Long Night), is a new work written and directed by veteran actress Bạch Mai, the troupe’s owner. It highlights patriotism and loyalty.

“Our plays feature very old stories but will be staged in a new style of tuồng, which originated in the 12th century, to meet the demand of young people,” said the show’s producer and actress Tinh.

According to Tinh, the premiere of Ngũ Biến Báo Phu Cừu on June 27 attracted more than 200 guests, including fans from Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Bình Dương and Bình Phước provinces.

Other plays, such as Anh Hùng Bán Than (Anonymous Hero) and Xuân Về Trên Đỉnh Mã Phi (Spring on the Peak of Mã Phi) about love and women, will also be staged.  

Tinh’s actors will offer outdoor shows at rural cultural houses in Cần Giờ, Bình Chánh, Nhà Bè, Củ Chi and Hóc Môn in July and August.   

"We face difficulties in offering a stable income to our staff. However, we love to entertain rural people," she said.

Tinh took part in Sao Nối Ngôi (Young Stars), a TV programme featuring young actors in cải lương, on Vĩnh Long Television’s THLV1 channel in 2018.

She and her colleagues performed vọng cổ (nostalgic tunes), cải lương, tuồng and hát bộ.

Through their performances, famous historical plays, such as Thái Hậu Dương Vân Nga (Queen Dương Vân Nga), Huyền Trân Công Chúa (Princess Huyền Trân) and Trần Quốc Toản (Young Hero Trần Quốc Toản), have been renewed.  

“We have worked hard to make each performance a lesson with images, sounds and lights that provides young audiences with useful and fascinating things about their history and culture,” said the 29-year-old.    

Tinh was trained by her mother, actress and director Mai, who has worked hard to develop the art and maintain her family’s artistic tradition.

Ngũ Biến Báo Phu Cừu and Mặt Trời Đêm Thế Kỷ will be staged every weekend this month at Kim Ngân Theatre on 144 Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street in Bình Thạnh District. — VNS