Cải lương play «Câu thơ yên ngựa» (A Verse from the Saddle)

   The verse that Vietnamese schoolchildren still learn by heart — «Nam quốc sơn hà», the declaration that the southern realm belongs to its own emperor — was written on campaign, and this production puts the price of that line back on stage.

   The libretto is by Hoang Yen (Hoàng Yến), adapted by Ngoc Van (Ngọc Văn) and People's Artist Thanh Tong (Thanh Tòng), first staged in 1979 by the Minh To (Minh Tơ) classical opera troupe with music by Duc Phu (Đức Phú). It is one of the landmark works of southern cải lương after 1975. The touring revival is directed by Hoa Ha (Hoa Hạ) and opened in April 2025 at this same theatre, marking a century of the Minh To – Thanh Tong family in the profession.

   The cast:

• — People's Artist Que Tran (Quế Trân) as Y Lan (Ỷ Lan) — she is the daughter of the late Thanh Tong
• — Tu Suong (Tú Sương) as Empress Thuong Duong (Thượng Dương)
• — Vo Minh Lam (Võ Minh Lâm) as the general Ly Thuong Kiet (Lý Thường Kiệt)
• — with Bao Tri (Bảo Trí), Thanh Son, Dien Trung (Điền Trung), Le Thanh Thao, Minh Truong, Nha Thy and others

   The war on the Như Nguyệt river line is only half the drama. General Ly Ngan is turned against Ly Thuong Kiet by a forged letter written in blood; the dowager Y Lan swallows an old grudge to recall the chancellor Ly Dao Thanh; and Ly Dao Thanh must sentence his own in-law, the empress. The play keeps asking the same question — what a person owes the country against what they owe their family.

   If you have never seen cải lương, this is an unusually easy way in: the historical plot is clear, the martial sequences are spectacular, and the singing is carried by the strongest names working in the form today. Rạp Hưng Đạo sits on Trần Hưng Đạo in Bến Thành, walkable from the market.

   Tickets are not on sale yet — the date has been announced, but the box office has not opened. Keep an eye on the event page on ticketbox.vn and book the moment it does.

   The performance is sung in Vietnamese; the plot follows a well-documented eleventh-century campaign, so a short read on Lý Thường Kiệt beforehand goes a long way.

   Almost fifty years after its premiere, this remains the piece southern opera companies measure themselves against.