Traditional reformed opera doyen to be honoured

HER STORY: People’s Artist Kim Cương released her audiobook biography titled ‘Sống Cho Người, Sống Cho Mình’ (Live for People, Live for Myself), in HCM City in 2022. Photo courtesy of the producer

HCM CITY — A TV show featuring People’s Artist Kim Cương, a cải lương doyen with 65 years of experience in the art form, will be released on the Hồ Chí Minh City Television on January 9.

The show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm (Live for People) will feature the life and career of Cương, and her contribution to cải lương (reformed opera), a 100-year-old theatre form of the South, and modern drama. 

It will also outline the development of traditional theatre between the 1950s and 1990s in the South. 

Cương will talk about her memories of famous cải lương artists including late People’s Artist Phùng Há, her teacher, and late actress Bảy Nam, her mother, who were pioneers and played an important role in developing the art. 

“Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm will tell the audience about the challenges and sacrifices that People’s Artist Kim Cương has made in pursuing cải lương. We hope this show will help theatre lovers learn about the art in particular and Vietnamese culture and lifestyle in general,” said the show’s producer Minh Hải. 

Cương and veteran theatre performers Hữu Châu, Lương Thế Thành and Lê Phương will perform in the show.

They will perform famous extracts from Lá Sầu Riêng (Durian Leaf), a dramatic play about southern women written and directed by Cương.

The play was first staged in Sài Gòn (now HCM City) in 1963 and has been staged many times by troupes across the country.

LIVING LEGEND: A TV show called Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm (Live for People) featuring People’s Artist Kim Cương, a cải lương doyen with 65 years of experience in the art form, will be released on Hồ Chí Minh City Television in January. Photo courtesy of the producer

Born into a traditional family in 1937, Cương’s love for cải lương came through her parents, the late talented performers Nguyễn Phước Cương and Bảy Nam, owners of the Đại Phước Cương Troupe, one of the region’s leading troupes.  

She started her professional career when she was 17, performing with her mother, Nam, and actresses Phùng Há and Năm Phỉ, who are recognised as some of the region’s most talented cải lương performers. 

In the 1960s, Cương became involved in modern drama and worked to combine it with cải lương. 

She later established the Kim Cương Drama Troupe that grew to have more than 70 actors as its members. They performed dozens of plays written by Cương, mostly on the topics of women, love, family and social problems in the South. 

Cương wrote and directed 50 plays during her career, most of which highlighted southern women and their character. 

Fans can learn about Cương and her art by visiting the website https://kynukimcuong.vn. –VNS