Cai luong play on national heroines celebrates National Reunification Day

A cai luong (reformed opera) play on national heroines, Trung sisters, is being restaged to celebrate the National Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1).

Young actors of HCM City’s Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre perform a new version of the famous play 'Tieng Trong Me Linh' (The Sounds of Me Linh Drum), which tells the story of Trung Sisters, two national heroines.  (Photo courtesy of the theatre)

The play, called Tieng Trong Me Linh (The Sounds of Me Linh Drum) will feature young artists of the Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre, a leading traditional art troupe in HCM City.

It will narrate the stories of Trung Trac and her younger sister Trung Nhi, who led the first resistance movement against the Southern Han Chinese occupation in the first century, around 2,000 years ago.

The sisters led their troops on elephants to repel Chinese invasions. Their victory delivered liberation for Dai Viet (an old name for Vietnam) after 247 years of Chinese domination

The play’s premiere, held on April 10, had Meritorious Artist Thanh Ngan playing older sister Trung Trac, and Kim Luan as the younger sister, Trung Nhi.

Young talented actor Van Khoi played Trung Trac’s husband, General Thi Sach.

The performance left a very strong impression on the audiences and theatre critics. 

“The actors have presented a cải lương play using modern performance techniques,” said director and People’s Artist Tran Ngoc Giau.

“We have worked to refresh Tieng Trong Me Linh, a famous cải lương play on Vietnamese history that was first staged in 1977,” said actress Kim Luan.

“We hope to encourage young audiences to learn more about Vietnamese history and culture through our art.”

Kim Luan said she watched a video of the play’s original version starring the late talented actress Thanh Nga as Trung Trac. This enabled her to improve her own performance in the new version this year, she added

“Our new version introduces the art in both old and new styles,” said the 25-year-old Luan. 

Tieng Trong Me Linh will be staged every night from April 24 to May 1 at the Tran Huu Trang Theatre, 136D Tran Hung Dao street, District 1. Tickets are available at the box office./.

VNA