People's Artist Manh Tuan: King of the North, respected teacher of Meritorious Artist Xuan Hinh and many great artists

People's Artist Manh Tuan's real name is Nguyen Duc Thinh, born in 1929 in Bac Ninh, the same hometown as Xuan Hinh and also the cradle of Quan Ho, Cheo and many types of Northern folk culture.

The clown king of the North and his contributions to theater arts

From a young age, People's Artist Manh Tuan was exposed to music and art through going to see Cheo performances, Quan Ho performances and folk performances outside communal houses, pagodas and festivals.

This is what gave rise to People's Artist Manh Tuan's special passion for cheo and quan ho, adoration literature.

However, People's Artist Manh Tuan did not have the conditions to pursue art from a young age. His family was quite large and poor. His mother died early when he was only 3 months old and his father remarried, leaving him in a stepmother situation.

Due to difficult family circumstances, at the age of 8, People's Artist Manh Tuan had to leave home to live to support himself. But because he loved rowing, he often hid from the homeowner to go see. When he returned, he did not dare to call the door and had to huddle under a pile of straw to sleep.

Taking the opportunity of the nationwide resistance war and the soldiers returning to the village, People's Artist Manh Tuan volunteered to be a liaison for local guerrillas. During his work, he boldly asked to take on the role of performing arts, singing, dancing, and performing and became the nucleus of the enemy's performance team.

After a period of accumulating performance experience, from 1952, People's Artist Manh Tuan began working in a theater troupe.

Because of his skinny appearance and lack of unique singing voice, at first, he was only assigned to preserve props for the troupe, and was not given the role of background double or main double in the play.

But because of his passion for art, he researched and learned by himself in every way. He taught himself to play the drums and the Cheo melodies of his homeland, and the Cheo blood in him grew and was nurtured.

In addition, People's Artist Manh Tuan was also fortunate to have famous cheo artists such as Nam Ngu and Tu Lien mentor and develop his talent and passion. Thanks to that, he had the opportunity to go to the stage, starting with a supporting role in the play Tam Dien.

From that supporting role, People's Artist Manh Tuan began to receive many different roles, gradually becoming a leading and famous actor.

Thanks to the natural stage charm, the resonance of Thanh and Sac and serious training helped People's Artist Manh Tuan reach the pinnacle of humorous performance art on the Cheo stage.

In some plays, he took on all three roles at the same time, such as: Mr. Mang, fortune teller, and monk playing the organ (in the play Quan Am Thi Kinh).

Other roles include Mr. Suu (play The Buffalo Two Families), Mr. Thin (play Tam Cam), Mr. Duong (play Our Blood Has Flowed), Mr. Phon (play The Road Goes Both Ways), Mr. Tich (play Complete Double Path), Ngu Clown (the play Lo of Magic Water)... gradually brought the name of People's Artist Manh Tuan to the public.

People's Artist Manh Tuan attracts viewers with his witty, charming, traditional acting style, imbued with folk culture, imbued with the soul of the Northern countryside, but very modern through expression, rhythm, and ideas. moderation.

It can be said that People's Artist Manh Tuan's acting style is typical of the delicate blend between music and lyrics, acting, singing, and dancing. Every gesture, action, expression and dialogue on stage is performed by him according to the melody, rhythm, up and down in moderation, very graceful, delicate but also soulful and emotional. He can flexibly combine singing, acting, and dancing smoothly.

Thanks to that, People's Artist Manh Tuan achieved many achievements such as the Gold Medal in Theater Performances, the First Class Resistance Medal against the French, and the First Class Victory Medal. He is also one of the earliest generation of people's artists to be awarded the title. The public fondly calls him the Clown King of the North.

In addition to the stage, People's Artist Manh Tuan is also successful on the screen, with many unique roles, leaving a mark in the hearts of the public. The most prominent role is Thong Bieu in the TV series Land and People.

Respected teacher of many great artists

Not only successful on stage and screen, People's Artist Manh Tuan is also a very dedicated teacher, having trained many generations of students. He has three most famous students: Meritorious Artist Xuan Hinh, People's Artist Quoc Anh, and People's Artist Quoc Truong.

Among them, Xuan Hinh is the student who was most enthusiastically guided and instructed by People's Artist Manh Tuan, imparting all his passion, knowledge and bloodline of rowing to him. He confided:

"Everyone has a father, a mother, and a teacher in their life. For me, People's Artist Manh Tuan is the most important teacher in my artistic career.

Teacher Manh Tuan is the one who taught me the role of cheo clown from the very beginning, so that I could sing, act, know the language and culture to step on stage. He is someone I always respect and bow to respectfully."

It can be seen that Xuan Hinh's acting style today is heavily influenced by People's Artist Manh Tuan, from the way he pronounces, utters words, moves on stage to the way he sings chau van and a dao.

People's Artist Manh Tuan himself also passed on to Xuan Hinh his love for folk culture and tradition, making him aware of preserving and passing it on. Performing for the Mother Goddess is one of the forms of folk culture that Xuan Hi learned from his teacher and is currently circulating.

Not only Xuan Hinh and Quoc Truong, People's Artist Manh Tuan also trained another excellent student, People's Artist Quoc Anh, who is also his son-in-law. People's Artist Quoc Anh once said:

"I am famous for playing clown roles, mainly feudal mandarins such as district officials, district chiefs, commune chiefs or corrupt farmers thanks to my father-in-law - People's Artist Manh Tuan.

If Xuan Hinh was born to be a clown, then I am completely different. But it was my father-in-law who pointed out the high nose when transformed into a hawk's beak, the bright eyes that narrowed into a squint and the mouth that could reach up to the ears. So I specialized in treating clowns and was successful."

In addition, People's Artist Manh Tuan also trained many other famous students such as Vuong Rau and Xuan Nghia. Artist Vuong Rau said:

"There have been some opinions that my comedy style is similar to Xuan Hinh's. That's because we all learned cheo from the same person - the late People's Artist Manh Tuan, so the vocabulary and voice are similar, not imitations." .

Xuân Hinh: "Ông già" buôn đồng nát nuôi gia đình đến nghệ sĩ hài dành 40 năm cuộc đời sống với nghề Nhật Hân10:21:10 19/09/2023Thời niên thiếu, NSƯT Xuân Hinh từng đi bán chó, buôn đồng nát... làm đủ nghề để kiếm tiền trang trải cuộc sống trước khi trở thành danh hài nổi tiếng. Ông còn được khán giả và người hâm mộ ưu ái gọi là Vua hài đất Bắc .