"I want to tell about the mothers who stayed after the war in the "Gratitude for Birth" night"

Before Vu Lan, director Dao Duy Anh - Deputy Head of the Drama Troupe, Vietnam Youth Theater - and artists completed the final rehearsals for "Grandma's Wish", a performance staged in the program "Gratitude for Birth 2026".

With a duration of nearly 20 minutes, the play tells about a mother whose husband is a martyr. After her husband sacrificed, she stayed single to raise her only child and kept the old house as if keeping a part of the memory of the deceased.

Having been associated with "Gratitude for Birth" for many years, director Dao Duy Anh always finds a special story to bring to the stage. This year, he chose the image of a mother in the rear, people who often stand behind the story of war.

“Previously, I did ‘Mother's Wealth’, talking about filial piety between children and parents. This year, I want to tell about a mother whose husband is a martyr. She lives with very beautiful memories of her husband, living alone and raising children alone,” the director shared.

The character's special point lies in the way she preserves the past. Despite being supported to build a new house, the mother still wants to keep the old house, because that place preserves memories of her husband and past years.

For the mother, the old house is not simply a place to live but also preserves memories of her husband and a part of her life. Old things sometimes have value, but new things cannot replace them," he said.

To condense a lifelong story in less than 20 minutes, the crew found and read many true stories about mothers, wives whose husbands or relatives are martyrs. The real letters of the martyrs are also included in the play, becoming a material to connect the deceased with those who remain.

According to Dao Duy Anh, what he wants to emphasize is that behind the sacrifice of soldiers, there are still silent losses that last for many years.

To have today's life, there are not only soldiers, fathers, and grandfathers who sacrificed on the front lines, but also the great sacrifices of mothers and grandmothers in the rear. They have suffered many disadvantages so that we can have a peaceful life," the director shared.

Her wish" is also associated by the director with the "Operation 500 Days and Nights" searching, collecting and identifying martyrs' remains. The current searches remind him of mothers who have spent their whole lives waiting for their loved ones to return.

The mother in the play only has one child. She raises her child to adulthood, and then the child goes far away.

She sacrificed a lot for her husband and children. The children were raised by her and then went abroad. But in my story, the mother sacrificed her last breath without a word of reproach. I think this is truly a Vietnamese mother," he said.

Placing the story in the Vu Lan season art program, Dao Duy Anh wants filial piety to be seen from a broader perspective: to be grateful to those who gave birth, nurtured and sacrificed for him.

Society is developing a lot in terms of education, qualifications as well as economy. But to be more perfect, that is the way to be a son, the way to be a person. That is the most precious thing in society," he said.

For the director, an old house or a letter from the battlefield is not just a detail of the story. Those are memories preserved so that today's people can better understand the sacrifices of previous generations.