Actors Lê Trung Thảo (left) and Nhật Cường perform in the cải lương production Nhật Thực (Eclipse), which won six awards, including the Best Performance Award, at the South and Southeast Asian International Theatre Festival in Yunnan, China. — Photos thethaovanhoa.vn

HCM CITY — The cải lương (Vietnamese reformed opera) production Nhật Thực (Eclipse) has brought international recognition to Vietnamese theatre, winning six awards at the South and Southeast Asian International Theatre Festival in Yunnan, China, including the festival's top honour for Best Performance.

Produced by the HCM City University of Theatre and Cinema, Eclipse also earned individual awards for Best Director, Best Musician and three acting prizes, underscoring the growing appeal of Vietnamese traditional theatre on the international stage.

The production won Best Director for Lê Nguyên Đạt, Best Musician for Võ Thanh Liêm, and Best Actor awards for Lê Trung Thảo, Bình Tinh and Lê Văn Hải, who is professionally known as Lê Hải.

Competing against productions from countries with diverse theatrical traditions, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, Eclipse demonstrated the ability of cải lương to connect with audiences beyond Việt Nam while remaining firmly rooted in its cultural heritage.

Reimagining a landmark work

The origins of Eclipse can be traced to the early 1990s, when the late playwright Lê Duy Hạnh created a sensation with Diễn Kịch Một Mình (Performing Alone), a work famously performed by People's Artist Bạch Tuyết.

Exploring the emotional turmoil and inner conflicts of an artist devoted to the stage, the play was long regarded as one of the most challenging works in Vietnamese theatre. In 2019, it was adapted into the cải lương production Eclipse, opening a new chapter in the reinterpretation of traditional performing arts.

Rather than recreating the original production, director Lê Nguyên Đạt pursued a fresh approach. After nine revisions, the version presented in Yunnan was refined into a tightly structured 60-minute performance.

The original solo format was transformed into a multi-layered production featuring five performers: Lê Trung Thảo, Bình Tinh, Lê Văn Hải, Ngọc Cương and Phượng Hằng. The shorter running time intensified the drama and removed much of the narrative sprawl often associated with traditional theatre, aligning with international festival expectations of presenting national culture through a contemporary artistic lens.

Language can be a significant barrier when traditional musical theatre is performed abroad, as subtitles cannot fully convey every lyric, poetic image or musical nuance.

However, Eclipse overcame that challenge by embracing a more universal theatrical language built on music, movement and visual storytelling.

The seamless blend of Võ Thanh Liêm's traditional musical elements, stylised staging and contemporary choreography created a compelling emotional experience. During performances on May 27 and 29 in Yunnan, audiences and theatre professionals responded warmly to the production's exploration of universal themes, including human destiny, cultural preservation and the enduring struggle to safeguard heritage against the passage of time.

Artists carrying tradition into the future

Actress Bình Tinh (right) and director Lê Nguyên Đạt celebrate the success of Nhật Thực (Eclipse), which earned six awards at the international theatre festival in Yunnan, China.

The success of any stage production ultimately depends on the performers who bring it to life.

Alongside the commanding stage presence and refined artistry of Meritorious Artist Lê Trung Thảo and the assured performance of Lê Văn Hải, actress Bình Tinh emerged as one of the production's standout performers.

She portrays a young woman exploring a museum archive in search of the origins of cải lương over the past century. In many ways, the role mirrors her own life story.

As a descendant of the renowned Huỳnh Long traditional opera family, Bình Tinh carries generations of theatrical heritage within her. That connection enabled her to portray the character with remarkable authenticity.

Moments in which historical figures appeared to emerge through her gestures and choreography created some of the production's most emotionally powerful scenes, blending the spirit of the past with the perspective of a contemporary woman.

Director Lê Nguyên Đạt praised the actress's achievement, saying that whenever Bình Tinh appeared on stage, she brought an infectious energy that immediately captivated audiences.

He said that members of the international jury were particularly impressed by the natural charisma of her singing and movement, qualities that reflected a deep and instinctive connection to cải lương.

Taking cải lương beyond borders

The success in Yunnan follows another milestone for Eclipse. Last year, the production won four Gold Awards at the ASEAN International Theatre Festival 2025 in Nanning, China, including honours for Best Production, Best Director and awards for performers Lê Trung Thảo and Bình Tinh.

That achievement led organisers to invite the production to participate in the Yunnan festival, where it continued its winning streak.

Beyond the awards themselves, the journey of Eclipse offers a broader lesson about the adaptability of Vietnamese traditional arts in an increasingly interconnected cultural landscape.

The production illustrates that safeguarding tradition does not mean preserving it in a static form. Instead, it requires a willingness to engage with contemporary audiences.

Experimentation, in this sense, is not the abandonment of roots but the building of new bridges that allow audiences, regardless of nationality or cultural background, to connect with the emotional and artistic values embedded within the tradition.

As cải lương moves through more than a century of development marked by both triumphs and challenges, productions such as Eclipse offer renewed confidence in the art form's future.

Their success demonstrates that when traditional cultural values are paired with innovative artistic thinking, they can find fresh relevance and claim a place on the contemporary international arts stage.

Viewed from this perspective, the journey of Eclipse reflects the aspirations outlined in the Politburo's Resolution No 80-NQ/TW, which emphasises positioning and promoting Việt Nam's national brand internationally through the distinctive values of its culture and people.

The resolution calls for cultural diplomacy and strategic international communication that project Việt Nam as a nation rich in cultural identity, humanity and creativity. The international recognition of Eclipse suggests that the performing arts can play a meaningful role in turning that vision into reality. — VNS