Stage 'crazy' about Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories

In early August, New Stage will open in Hanh Thong ward with a play inspired by the story of writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu, A Love Affair.

The opera "Doi Nhu Y" by Tran Huu Trang Theater was written from the story of the same name by writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu - Photo: LINH DOAN

Not only New Stage, many stages in the city such as Tran Huu Trang Opera House, Young World Stage, Hoang Thai Thanh Stage, Hong Van Stage... all have scripts written from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories currently on display.

Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories "overwhelm" the theater stage

If you ask which writer's work is most popular for authors to adapt and create in Ho Chi Minh City theater today, it is probably Nguyen Ngoc Tu.

The "champion" title belongs to Hoang Thai Thanh stage. Currently, there are 6-7 plays performed at this stage inspired by short stories by Nguyen Ngoc Tu. Some examples include Mut chi Mut Ca Tha (written from the story Thuong qua rau ram ), Half a life of bewilderment (from the story Chieu vang ), Bao gio song can (from the story Dong nho ), Mo trang bong nuoc (from the story Tinh lo ), Rau ram o lai (from the story Oi cai ve dau ), Tra lai lia thia (from the story Rotten firewood drifting back )...

Among them, the play Half a Life of Stupidity set a record when it was able to perform more than 150 shows, and is a typical tragedy of Hoang Thai Thanh Theater. Other plays such as Bao gio song canh, Rau ram o lai ... brought countless tears to the audience.

Director Bui Quoc Bao of the Young World stage admits that he is a fan of writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu. He was inspired to create three scripts from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories. These are the scripts Doi Nhu Y, Ong Gia Doan Lo To (from the story Oi Cai Ve Dau ) and Do Tinh (from the story Ben Do Xom Mieu ).

Playwright Hoang Song Viet has adapted two cai luong scripts from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories, Hiu hiu gio bac and Doi Nhu Y. The two plays were staged by Tran Huu Trang Theater to compete in the national cai luong festival and included in the performance schedule for the audience.

The play "Life as You Wish" was also inspired by Hong Van Drama Theater to be adapted into the play " Love is love, but love is like that" . The story "Endless Field" by Nguyen Ngoc Tu was once directed by Minh Nguyet to compete in the national drama festival.

The play The Old Man of the Bingo Troupe by the World Youth Stage - Photo: LINH DOAN

Oi cai ve dau, Doi Nhu Y, Hiu hiu gio bac have both spoken and reformed versions, recorded and broadcast on Ho Chi Minh City Television. Almost every year Doi Nhu Y, Hiu hiu gio bac are chosen by students to be their graduation productions for directing majors.

The author and director couple Minh Nhat - Nhu Truc of New Theater made three drama projects, two of which were based on stories by Nguyen Ngoc Tu.

"Seeing me making plays based on Ms. Tu's works, many people think I'm from the West. I was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, but we love Ms. Tu's literature, so we sympathize with her works. After these two plays, I still have many ideas to exploit from Ms. Tu's works" - Minh Nhat confided.

It's not easy to make a good play.

Many authors, directors, and theater producers, when asked why they chose to stage plays based on Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories, expressed their conviction and love for Nguyen Ngoc Tu's works and writing style.

Artist Ai Nhu of Hoang Thai Thanh stage shared with Tuoi Tre : "Right from the literary work, Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories have brought many emotions to readers. We realized that Tu's stories have things that are very suitable for the stage. There are stories and writing styles that speak of human fates and life that are very real, simple, and close to life."

The play Half a Life of Surprise, inspired by the story Empty Afternoon by Nguyen Ngoc Tu, is considered a typical work of Hoang Thai Thanh Stage - Photo: GIA TIEN

Two smoothly adapted scripts by playwright Hoang Song Viet from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories have left their mark on the cai luong stage.

He recognized that Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories built a context and space filled with the essence of the Western river region with emotional characters that remind people of the typical qualities of Ho Bieu Chanh's stories in the past.

Therefore, Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories would be "perfectly suitable" if adapted to reformed opera.

Bui Quoc Bao is originally from the West, so he has great sympathy for Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories. "It is difficult to find any author who writes about the West, the Western characters are as precise and emotional as Nguyen Ngoc Tu.

"She builds each character as a story containing a unique and special fate, which greatly inspires authors and directors to want to bring her work to the stage" - Quoc Bao said emotionally.

Loving Nguyen Ngoc Tu so much, the authors and directors expressed that it was not easy to bring the work from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's story to the stage while ensuring the true spirit and preserving the beauty of Tu.

Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories often have few characters, under her pen, readers can drift freely in many spaces and times, and develop their imagination to live with the lives of the characters. However, the stage sometimes finds it difficult to "fly" like that, and requires many conflicts, dramas, and dramatic actions to be realized on stage.

"In the story, the author can spread it across many spaces and times, however, on stage, if there are too many, it can make it difficult to stage and perform. Therefore, to build a script from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's story, the author must understand her literature and spirit in order to create or adapt it carefully, skillfully and delicately" - playwright Hoang Song Viet emphasized.

Respect creativity in other fields

Bui Quoc Bao revealed that he and Nguyen Ngoc Tu are the same age. When Tu was a famous writer, Bao was still unknown. The first time, he was quite nervous when he called to ask to adapt Tu's work, but surprisingly, she agreed immediately.

Not only that, when Quoc Bao suggested that after finishing the script, he would give it back to Tu to review, she said no need, saying that literary language and theatrical language are different, and she respected the creativity of each field. Since then, although he has been inspired by Tu's work many times, Bui Quoc Bao has only worked with Tu over the phone, never meeting in person.

Artist Ai Nhu said she was very grateful, truly happy and pleased to be able to work with writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu.

"Tu respects the creativity of artists in other fields and does not interfere when agreeing to let the stage stage a work based on his story. I invited Tu to the city to watch a play, but it seems Tu only came once. The other times, Tu said if he could arrange it, or if he had the chance, he would come to see it himself. That personality of Nguyen Ngoc Tu makes me love her even more" - Ai Nhu said.

LINH DOAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/san-khau-me-truyen-nguyen-ngoc-tu-20250717095355413.htm