A scene taken from the play "The Leader" (Photo: Huy Son/VOV)

The play “The leader” revolves around a trip by President Ho Chi Minh to an irrigation project in Dai Phong commune, Quang Nam province, which stalled because of a struggle between local officials and a villager over land clearance. It reminds people of a hard period of building socialism in northern Vietnam with issues still relevant to today, such as land acquisition, compensation, mass mobilization, and personnel allocation. The play also highlights a caring President concerned about people’s hardships.

A scene taken from the play "The Leader" (Photo: Huy Son/VOV)

To play the role of President Ho Chi Minh, emeritus artist Thanh Dien had to study and imitate everyone of Uncle Ho’s gestures. The biggest challenge to Dien is how to recreate the President’s spirit and sentiments toward ordinary people. Dien learned from his work President Ho Chi Minh’s ideology of taking people as the center. He said: “The role requires more than just learning the script by heart. Only when Uncle Ho is in the actor’s heart can that actor depict Uncle Ho’s spirit and love. After a time of practice, I can demonstrate the close bond between President Ho Chi Minh and ordinary people. He is now certainly in my heart”.

A scene taken from the play "The Leader" (Photo: Huy Son/VOV)

In “The leader”, President Ho Chi Minh is portrayed as a dear man with simple actions and sayings. But such simple things imply his great personality. For example, Uncle Ho gave an orange to a security guard who insisted on not eating because he was on duty. The President then asked to take the gun and said the guard could eat the orange while Uncle Ho replaced him in his mission. Emeritus artist My Uyen, who acts as a chef, said that generations of Vietnamese people keep President Ho Chi Minh in their mind. Uyen said she was honored to be part of the play: “I have loved President Ho Chi Minh since I was a little girl. My love for him has grown as I read more books and watched more films about him. Thanh Dien was really in the character. I feel like I’m not on the stage, but meeting President Ho Chi Minh in real life”.

The play includes a scene featuring a bureaucratic local official confiscating people’s land for the irrigation project improperly, triggering their anger. Audience can refer the play to similar current social issues. Artist Chanh Truc, who acts as Chairman of Dai Loc district’s People’s Committee, said the villain displays rigidity and wastefulness. Truc told VOV: “President Ho Chi Minh’s handling of the problem taught the official a lesson on how to enforce policies to get social support. A qualified official should be transparent and close to the people to win their trust”.