Location : Thang Long Water Puppet Theater, 57B Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Hanoi Where to watch a water puppet show in Hanoi The programs tell Vietnamese folk tales and legends, including subjects like the rice harvest festival, which is humorously depicted, agricultural production, animal husbandry, sports like wrestling, and even the valiant acts of national heroes like Ba Trung, Ba Trieu, and Tran Hung Dao. Vietnamese operatic tunes are also included, describing the tale the puppets are enacting. Vietnamese musicians perform traditional music on drums, cymbals, horns, bamboo flutes, and wooden bells. Traditional Vietnamese music is played while the puppets recite well-known folk tales and legends. The puppeteers get training for at least three years before officially performing on the stage. The peasants used to amuse one another with these puppets in the past when the rice fields were flooded.Ī standard water puppet show is performed by 7-11 skilled puppeteers working in harmony with each other to create a lively show. The puppets either come out of the murky water or enter from either side of the stage. The puppets look to be floating over the water. The puppeteers use a big pole to support the puppet underwater and to operate it. Simple or sophisticated tables, pile systems, word rods, and bamboo poles are used by the puppeteers to control the puppets’ wires and poles.

Water puppets are coated with resinous paint and built of lightweight wood like fig and vine (which are easily found around ponds). The wooden puppet is usually up to 15 kg in weight. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and control the show by using long bamboo rods and string mechanisms beneath the water. A water puppet show is performed at a chest-deep water level, and the water’s surface is the main stage. What is performed in a water puppet show? Performant of a water puppet showįor many years, Vietnamese water puppet artisans always suffer in cold and wet conditions. This is a great chance to bring a signature Vietnamese culture to the world. This theater has also brought water puppetry to more than 40 foreign countries through performance tours, international cultural exchange programs, and puppetry festivals. It’s said that about 500 shows are performed in front of approximately 150,000 people each year. The first modern water puppet shows were played at Thang Long Theater in 1990. The typical concepts of a water puppet show have deeply rooted in rural Vietnamese traditions that combine fishing, planting, harvesting of rice, and village folklore. The main point of the show hasn’t changed until now, only the setting and the locations. It is also stated that the performances were initially meant to keep mystical spirits amused so they wouldn’t cause trouble as well as to amuse rice growers. The first water puppet shows were only performed outside, with the stage being set up in a big open area beneath the sky. The first water puppet performances took place in northern Vietnam’s rice paddies near the Red River Delta. There is a long history of water puppet shows from 1000 years ago, the Ly Dynasty is when water puppetry first appeared.

Tips when visiting the Hanoi Water Puppet show.

Where to watch a water puppet show in Hanoi.What is performed in a water puppet show?.

Water puppetry video