The Hanoi Open Theater Festival 2024 concluded on the evening of November 9, 2024, with 7 out of 12 performances at the festival winning Gold and Silver Medals. Both the Cai Luong Theater and the Hanoi Cheo Theater participated in the festival and were awarded Silver Medals.
At the festival, the Cai Luong Theater’s performance “Ly Thuong Kiet” made a deep impression on the audience. This is one of the historical and nationalistic performances, depicting heroic moments from the nation’s resistance against the Song invasion. The play was elaborately staged, with sharp dialogues, music, and melodies reflecting the essence of cai luong. The performance’s set was realistically recreated on stage, and the artists delivered their roles with great success. Particularly, “Ly Thuong Kiet” combines both traditional and modern elements, offering the audience a rich artistic experience, especially through the character of Ly Thuong Kiet.
In addition to the Silver Medal for the performance, artists from the Cai Luong Theater also won several other awards, including 3 Gold Medals and 3 Silver Medals. Specifically, musician and People’s Artist Hoang Anh Tu won the Best Musician Award at the festival.
The Cheo play “Nguoi Hat A Dao” (The Singer of Ca Dao) from the Hanoi Cheo Theater won a Silver Medal. Two artists from the theater, People’s Artist Quoc Phong and Artist Quynh Trang, won Gold Medals. Other artists who won Silver Medals include: Thuy Nga, Xuan Truong, Le Dat, Hong Tham, and People’s Artist Thanh Loan. Musician Hung Cuong, the orchestra conductor, received a Gold Medal at the festival.
“Nguoi Hat A Dao” is set during the resistance against the French colonial forces. Responding to President Ho Chi Minh’s call, the entire population of Hanoi stood up to fight against the enemy. The characters are ordinary people who refuse to live in slavery, rising to fight for Hanoi. Among them are fragile women, such as the singer of Kham Thien Street, and the flower girls of Ngoc Ha village. There are also workers, intellectual artists, all united in following the Viet Minh.
The Cheo play successfully recreated the heroic beauty of Hanoi during the resistance against the French, recalling the barricades on the streets, the fields of Ngoc Ha village, the graceful Ao dai worn by Hanoi’s young women, and the ca tru performances of the girls singing a dao on Kham Thien Street, etc.
The talented cast of the Hanoi Cheo Theater brought the historical and heroic context of the nation to life, moving many audience members.
Four theaters from the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism participated in the festival. Besides the Cai Luong Theater and Hanoi Cheo Theater, which won Silver Medals, two other theaters – the Thang Long Puppetry Theater and Hanoi Drama Theater – won Gold Medals.
Tuan Minh