Cai luong play highlights veteran artists

Meritorious Artist Kim Tu Long, Truong Son, Thanh Hang and Minh Tam will act in Xu An Phi Giao (Phi Giao in Court), a famous 1990s play, at the Hoa Binh Theatre.

The artists will sing original traditional tunes of cai luong in costumes by fashion designer Le Long Dung.

Xu An Phi Giao features love and hatred.

It tells the tragedic life of Phi Giao, a concubine who died due to her ambition to accede to the royal throne. 

Vietnamese-American Ngoc Huyen, a leading star in the 1990s, will play Phi Giao.

She has been brushing up on her singing and dancing skills to play the part, her first leading role in 15 years after she quit acting to join her family in the US.  

“I would love to sing cai luong in my homeland,” the 48-year-old said.

Huyen began her career at a very young age in HCM City, performing in the 1980s and 90s for the Thanh Nga and Huynh Long troupes and impressing audiences with her voice, looks and performance.  

In 1992 she pioneered the singing of pop songs in cai luong plays.

She won dozens of prizes in national traditional theatre festivals and contests, including the Tran Huu Trang Award and Mai Vang (Golden Apricot) Award presented by the HCM City Theatre Association and Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper.

Long, the show’s producer and art director, said: “We hope our performance, which will feature an orchestra of traditional instrument players, will please our fans, particularly young people.”

He has worked with the play’s scriptwriter, Bach Mai, to write vong co songs, which are often used in cai luong plays.   

The main performers will be supported by Xuan Truc, Kim Thu and Chi Bao of the Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre.

The show, to be held on December 23 at the Hoa Binh Theatre, 199 3 Thang 2 Street, District 10, will begin at 8pm.