In the performance night of the program "Southern Love 4", Thuy Dung - the biological granddaughter of the late artist Vu Linh (daughter of artist Tieu Linh) - took on the role of Trung Trac, the character who made the stage presence of the late artist Thanh Nga in the famous Cai Luong play "Tieng trong Me Linh".
However, Thuy Dung's performance quickly became a topic of controversy on social networks. Many viewers believe that this is a symbolic role of Cai Luong stage, so performance requires a certain professional foundation and stage experience.
According to some opinions, Thuy Dung is not yet a professional artist, so her singing is still limited. During the performance, she was commented on being out of breath, her voice was not stable, and her performance style was still forced and lacked naturalness.
Some viewers also said that the role of Trung Trac is a difficult role, even many experienced cai luong artists consider taking on it. Therefore, the fact that a young face with not much stage experience performed this character has made the performance the focus of debate.
Before the opposing opinions, reporters contacted the program director Ho Khac Tung to learn more. According to the director, the performance in the program criticized part of the play "Tieng trong Me Linh" (The Me Linh Drum Sound).
We only performed a part of the play to perform the song "Me Linh refrain". The program did not perform the entire Cai Luong excerpt. Therefore, the crew also considered and only restaged a short part," the director said.
He also added that the crew had calculated when choosing the person to perform the role. "Initially, I was also worried that assigning roles to Hong Loan (Vu Linh's daughter) might cause controversy, so I arranged for Thuy Dung to take on," he shared.
On Thuy Dung's side, she also spoke up after receiving many opinions from the audience. She said that the preparation time for the performance was quite tight.
I only received this performance in 6 days. Director Ho Khac Tung instructed me to sing and act. I reviewed Ms. Thanh Nga's play. Actually, I have to imitate her acting style because I don't have much time to practice methodically," Thuy Dung shared.
According to her, the entire training process only had one rehearsal session and one program run before the official performance on stage.
I also find my performance not good and there are still many shortcomings. However, when standing on stage, I tried my best. After reading the audience's comments, I will try to improve myself more in the future," Thuy Dung said.
The Cai Luong play "Tieng trong Me Linh" is one of the outstanding works of Vietnamese Cai Luong stage, in which the role of Trung Trac is associated with the name of the late artist Thanh Nga and is mentioned by many generations of audiences as a major mark of Cai Luong art. Therefore, the re-enactment of this role on stage always attracts the attention and strict evaluation from the public.
