Actress Thanh Hoai of the Vietnam Cheo Theatre Company is a well-known name on the cheo stage. She has performed for over thirty years and often plays good characters such as the faithful fairy, Giang Huong, and the hard-working wife, Chau Long. She says of these roles, “Perhaps my personality is not suitable for cruel sharp-tongued or shrewish ladies, even though I have been trained to play both good and evil characters.”
Actress Thanh Hoai was born in Thai Binh Province, one of the four most famous cheo areas in Vietnam. However, none of her family members is a professional cheo singer. She became a professional by accident. One day while she was cutting grass and grazing a buffalo by the Luoc River, she heard a loudspeaker announcing tryouts for the People’s Central Cheo Troupe (present-day Vietnam Cheo Theatre Company). She abandoned the buffalo and her basket of grass and ran five kilometers to the district town to participate in the contest. No one expected the shy little girl who had picked up a few cheo tunes from village performances to win the examiners’ hearts. She even lisped the letters “I” and “n.” However, her soft, sweet voice conquered the examiners as soon as she began to sing.
Thanh Hoai went with the troupe to its headquarters in Hanoi and trained there for three years, from 1965 to 1968. After that, she traveled and performed for soldiers and young volunteers on the war front. Thanh Hoai has worked tirelessly for decades. In recent years, she performed in Paris, London, and Brussels. She has won ten medals from regional national and international contests. Her most impressive and unexpected achievement was the gold medal at the 1990 National Professional Theatre Contest held in Thai Binh Province. The lead actress suddenly fell ill; Thanh Hoai performed impressively as an understudy.
Her personal life is much easier now than in the 1980s. Back then, she grew vegetables, raised pigs, and took care of her mother, mother-in-law, and young children while her husband traveled. At the same time she performed and studied new roles. Since her two daughters are now married, she has more time for herself. Her love for cheo has grown even stronger. Although she is fifty years old her voice is still sweet, crystalline, and enthusiastic. She also sings other forms of traditional music such as ca tru, chau van, hat xam, and quan ho.
Her other activities are singing recording and teaching cheo at art schools. She appears at the Voice of Vietnam recording studio so often the staff members call her “Veteran General.” They have known her since her fee was one or 1.5 hao (one tenth of a dong) for a recorded song enough to buy two ice creams. After years as a lead actress, Thanh Hoai now plays supporting characters, leaving the central stage for younger performers. She says. “I am old now. Let the young generation take up the challenge. They are very talented.”
