For me, this is a special performance, not simply the 400th performance of “The Doctor”, but this may be a rare opportunity for the public to see Xuan Bac on stage. Because he has just been appointed as Director of the Department of Performing Arts.
I am not familiar with Xuan Bac, but I admire him for his intelligence, humor and ability to improvise. Xuan Bac acts as if he is not acting, meaning he does not need to force himself to prove that he is intelligent and humorous in his own plays.
The play “The Doctor” has been famous for nearly 40 years. The comedy depicts a picture of rural Vietnam in the early period of renovation, where the diseases of achievement and fame lead to vanity, hypocrisy, and even more so, the disease of lies and dishonesty that is increasingly widespread in society. After nearly 4 decades, the issues raised in “The Doctor” are still relevant, and viewers even feel that Luu Quang Vu is writing about today’s life, with profound messages of prediction and social reality that are truly reflected.
There was a detail when the play ended, Xuan Bac invited the audience to come up and take pictures with the artists. Partly to interact, to make the audience love the art of drama more, to come to see the play more… Partly, is it possible that taking pictures with famous artists, at the Opera House, is actually nurturing the so-called “sickness” of each audience member?
I like the first part better, although it cannot be denied that the purpose of taking the photo could be to show off, to post online, to show off, to use as a backdrop...
Sometimes I think like this: Some people who have just been promoted to a new, higher position often change in the way that, having reached that position, they still have to perform, still have to stand for people to take pictures, they have to be impressive, have to show off... In other words, the position tends to make the patient worse. Luckily, I have not seen that in Xuan Bac.
Everyone has their own vanity. Basically, vanity is not bad, it only becomes a “disease” when vanity becomes colorful, exceeds real value, even reaches the level of deception.
I believe that even if Xuan Bac no longer participates in “The Doctor”, this play will continue to be performed for a long time. People come to it not only to find what they are lacking: laughter, but also to realize what they have in abundance: The Doctor.
