PATRIOTIC PLAY - Actors from the Trần Hữu Trang Cải Lương Theatre perform in Khách Sạn Hào Hoa (Brave Heart), a cải lương (reformed opera) production featuring Vietnamese soldiers and their sacrifice for the country’s independent in the anti-American war. Photo courtesy of the producer.

HCM CITY — Artists from the Trần Hữu Trang Cải Lương Theatre are working on a new version about history and soldiers to celebrate Việt Nam People’s Army Day on December 22.

They will stage Khách Sạn Hào Hoa (Brave Heart), a cải lương (reformed opera) production featuring Vietnamese soldiers and their sacrifice for the country’s independent in the anti-American war.

The opera was famous in the 1980s, featuring cải lương stars such as Thanh Tuấn, Mỹ Châu and Diệp Lang.

It highlights female communist secret agents working in Sài Gòn (now HCM City) in the 1960s who displayed incredible levels of patriotism, loyalty, bravery and intelligence.

The themes of patriotism and honesty are also featured.

In the new version, People’s Artist and theatre director Trần Ngọc Giàu uses realistic stories mixed with fantasy to feature female agents’ secret activities and the risks they faced of being discovered by their enemies.

Giàu has more than 35 years in theatre.

CELEBRATING PEOPLE'S ARMY - Actor Võ Minh Lâm (right) perfoms in a cải lương play called Khách Sạn Hào Hoa (Brave Heart) on Vietnamese history celebrates the 79th anniversary of the Việt Nam People’s Army next year. Photo courtesy of the producer.

Veteran artists Thu Vân and Võ Minh Lâm are invited to perform with their younger colleagues Nguyễn Văn Khởi, Diễm Thanh and Hà Như.

“Khách Sạn Hào Hoa features historical events. Our artists have worked to breathe life into the play,” said the play’s director, Giàu, in an interview with local media after the play’s premier in HCM City in December.

Through the show, Giàu’s actors offered the new version of Khách Sạn Hào Hoa with traditional tunes that were sung in cải lương - an unique form of Vietnamese theatre that began in the Cửu Long (Mekong) River Delta province of Tiền Giang in the 1920s.

“Khách Sạn Hào Hoa highlights the contribution of Southern soldiers and people to the cause of national liberation and reunification,” said actor Khởi, winner of the Chuông Vàng Vọng Cổ (Golden Bell) 2017, an annual national cải lương contest by Hồ Chí Minh Television. “Our new version is targeted to young audiences, but we will still offer a pure cải lương style.”

The play Khách Sạn Hào Hoa is scheduled to be staged at weekends, starting on December 16, at Trần Hữu Trang Theatre in District 1. – VNS