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HCM City actors celebrate 100 years of Vietnamese drama

 

HCM City actors celebrate 100 years of Vietnamese drama

Highlighted events include the forum called Tinh Hoa Hoi Tụ 100 Năm San Khấu Kịnh Nói Viet Nam (Famous Artists and 100 years of Vietnamese Drama). It will be organised by the HCM City Theatre Artists’ Association in co-operation with its partners at HCM City Light Music Centre on November 18.

It will feature People’s Artist Kim Cương, a veteran actress, director and producer who has more than 50 years of experience in theatre. 

Cương began her professional career in Sai Gòn (now HCM City) when she was 17. She has been involved in cải lương (reformed opera), a genre of traditional theatre in the South. 

In the 1960s, Cương decided to switch to the modern version of theatre, an imported genre, after learning the art, thus creating a new southern style of theatre.

She opened the Kim Cương Drama Troupe, managing a staff of 70 including young talents, and staged dozens of quality plays on topics like love, family and social problems.

She and her troupe worked hard and managed to make the southern-style drama popular even among cải lương (reformed theatre) fans. 

Their plays highlighted the culture and lifestyles of the south. 

Cương wrote 50 plays in all, mostly about poor women. Many of her plays are still staged today. 

For her contribution to the theatre, Cương was honoured with the title People's Artist by the Government in 2012.

“Cương’s plays offers Vietnamese drama in the style of the South,” said theatre director and critic Thanh Hiep of the city-based newspaper Người Lao Đong (Labourer). “Her art helped breathe life into plays.” 

“I hope seminars and forums on Vietnamese drama by the association will create opportunities to introduce the art to young people,” said Meritorious Artist and drama director Mỹ Uyen of 5B Small Theatre. — VNS

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