After nearly seven years away from her homeland, Cai Luong artist Phuong Lien has returned to Vietnam. This return home is not about performing or appearing on stage, but a quiet journey to find old loves, including a touching meeting with artist Hong Nga - a colleague who has been attached to her through many stages of Cai Luong theater.
The last time artist Phuong Lien returned to the country was in 2018, when she participated in the play "Doi Co Luu". After that, life abroad and major social upheavals, especially the COVID-19 epidemic and personal mental shocks, made the female artist almost withdrawn, appearing less in public. This return therefore has more private meaning, rather than a professional event.
In the early days of her presence in Vietnam, artist Phuong Lien received attention and care from close colleagues. However, the first destination she chose was to visit artist Hong Nga - an artist of the same generation, who left a deep impression in the hearts of Cai Luong fans. The meeting took place in a simple space, without stage, without lights, leaving only humanity and professional memories.
According to those present, artist Hong Nga's health has now weakened a lot. Time and illness have made her no longer as lucid as before, even almost unable to recognize her close colleague from years ago. The moment artist Phuong Lien sat next to her, choked up, held hands and called artist Hong Nga's name made many witnesses unable to hide their emotions. It was a reunion without words, but containing many layers of emotions about the harsh passing of time.
The meeting between the two artists evokes a golden age of Cai Luong stage, where artists are attached to each other not only by roles, but also by camaraderie, sharing and mutual respect. Although currently each person has a different fate, that artistry still retains its value, persistent over the years.
The return of artist Phuong Lien and the meeting with Hong Nga is not a noisy story, but a quiet slice of artists' lives behind the spotlight. There, the audience can see more clearly the everyday faces of those who used to stand on the stage peak - where joy, sadness, health and memories coexist.
