HCM CITY — A play about money and love adapted from Honoré de Balzac’s novel Eugénie Grandet by director Việt Linh will be staged in HCM City on Friday.

The play is about a wealthy but miserly Felix Grandet whose deeds lead to tragedy for his daughter Eugénie and himself.

Linh wrote the screenplay and invited young director Tây Phong of Hồng Hạc Drama Troupe, one of the city’s private troupes, to take part in the project. 

“I believe our production will make audiences laugh and cry. The play’s message is the hypocrisy and shallowness of wealthy people and how money controls their live,” Phong said in an interview with Thanh Niên newspaper.  

“Balzac released Eugénie Grandet in 1839 but his work is still relevant. I’m interested in Linh’s script because it has modern content,” he added.

The Vietnamese version of Eugénie Grandet features young artists Lê Chi Na, Thanh Tuấn, Lương Mỹ and Hồng Đào.     

Born in 1952 into a traditional family, Linh acquired her love for films from her father and scriptwriter Việt Tân who played a role in developing revolutionary cinema.

She studied film in Russia in 1980. Five years later, she became the south’s first female director, working for Giải Phóng Film Studio, the south’s leading State-owned film company.

Linh has since directed dozens of movies, including the award-winning Gánh Xiếc Rong (Mobile Circus Troupe, 1988) and Dấu Ấn Của Quỷ (The Sign of the Devil, 1992). 

Her films Mê Thảo Thời Vang Bóng (Once Upon a Time in Mê Thảo Village, 2002) and Chung Cư (The Tenement House, 1999) won several prizes at local and international film festivals, including the Việt Nam Golden Kite Film Festival, 2004 Promotion Internationale des Films du Sud in France, and 2003 Bergamo Film Festival in Italy. 

Most of her works are about love and the lives of people, with the use of light and sound effects highlighting their visual features.

Linh has also written books and documents about the cinema.

In 2005, she and her partner Phạm Hoàng Nam, a theatre producer, opened Hồng Hạc Drama Troupe to offer experimental shows.

“We want to provide audiences, particularly young people, with new concepts and techniques in drama,” said the 67-year-old Linh, who lives in France and Việt Nam.   

Theatre experts, including theatre actress and director Hồng Ánh and music producer Nguyễn Công Phương Nam, have helped her troupe become more professional.  

The Vietnamese stage version of Eugénie Grandet will be staged every weekend at 155Bis Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street in District 3. The final date of the performance has not been announced. — VNS