The "Stories of Hang Street" tour at the ancient house at 87 Ma May is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital (October 10, 1954 - October 10, 2024). The program was organized by the Management Board of Hoan Kiem Lake and Hanoi Old Quarter in collaboration with the artists of the Youth Theater to recreate the lifestyle of a family selling medicine in the capital, from 1930 to 1945.
Meritorious Artist Le Anh Tuyet, a familiar face of the Youth Theater, and also one of the authors of the program, shared: "The tour to visit the ancient house at 87 Ma May is no longer strange to many tourists. Therefore, we want to bring a new experience, helping visitors not only simply admire the ancient beauty of the house but also truly feel the breath of life of the people who once lived here.
Tourists coming to Hanoi in October have the opportunity to experience the lifestyle of Hanoians nearly 100 years ago at the ancient house at 87 Ma May in the "Stories of Hang Street" tour.
The story is about a family with a tradition of traditional oriental medicine, including a grandfather, aunt and a son who studied Western medicine. Initially, the son had no intention of following the family's oriental medicine profession. However, when he saw that his grandfather could not cure a seriously ill girl, he devoted himself to researching and learning all the methods of combining Eastern and Western medicine to save people. The play has almost no dialogue, mainly using body language so that foreign tourists can easily watch and understand.
Visitors will see the play "Story of Hang Street" with the participation of actors from the Youth Theater.
"The work we created has been carefully selected, not only telling the story of the family selling medicine but also showing the common features of Hanoians," Meritorious Artist Le Anh Tuyet shared.
The scene reconstruction by Ms. Tuyet and her colleagues realistically recreated the life of an ancient family selling traditional Chinese medicine. The group of authors painstakingly researched and collected items from reputable traditional medicine pharmacies. Some ancient items such as medicine cutting knives were also included in the play to realistically recreate life in the ancient house at 87 Ma May.
The play has almost no dialogue, mainly using body language so that foreign tourists can easily watch and understand.
The inner room of the ancient house is a space to experience medicinal activities.
With the advice of historical experts, every little detail in the house, from the tea set to the medicine jars, was carefully selected to ensure historical and cultural accuracy. This meticulousness has contributed to creating a lively and authentic space, bringing visitors back to the past in a vivid way.
The scene reconstruction was done by Ms. Tuyet and her colleagues with reference from traditional medicine practitioners, history experts, and respect for history.
The live tour "Stories of Hang Street" officially launched on October 9, initially only testing on weekends with 36 guests per group; there are two tours each day in the evening, lasting 45 minutes, of which the play is about 30 minutes long. The official ticket price has not been announced. Meritorious Artist Anh Tuyet hopes to soon bring the live tour to a wider audience in October.
