VietnameseWater Puppet originated from the Red River Delta of Vietnam in thetenth century. Some of the earliest troupes are in Nguyên Xá commune,Đông Hưng district, Thai Binh province. Water puppetry is deeply imbued with the cultural characteristics of the people of this area. This unique art first appeared around the 15^th century,when post-harvest, artists who were also farmers would gather toperform and relax. The custom remains today in many localities in theRed River Delta such as Dao Thuc, Phu Da, Dong Ca, Nguyen Xa, Dong Ngu,Nhan Hoa and Nam Chan.

Whenwater puppetry became more popular, villages competed against eachother with their puppet shows. This led puppet societies to besecretive and exclusive, including an initiation ceremony that involveddrinking rooster blood.

Sofar this art form has been unique to North Vietnam. Tourists can enjoythis kind of art all days in a week at Thang Long Puppet Theatre, whichis the most well known one in Ha Noi.

Performance

Forover a thousand years, performers in Vietnamese Water Puppet Theater’sfeet have always suffered in cold and wet condition. Water puppetry isperformed in a chest-deep pool of water, with the water's surface as astage. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and control the puppetsusing long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the watersurface.

Thepuppet is carved out of wood and often weighs up to 15 kg. A large rodsupports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers tocontrol them. The appearance is of the puppets moving over the water.The puppets enter from either side of the stage, or emerge from themurky depths of the water. In the past when the rice fields wereflooded the villagers would entertain each other using this puppet form.

Atraditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background musicaccompaniment. Singers of Cheo (a form of opera) with origin in NorthVietnam sing the songs which tell the story being acted out by thepuppets. Performances of up to 18 short scenes are usually introducedby a pig-tailed bumpkin known as Teu, and accompanied by a small folkorchestra. The musicians and the puppets interact during performance;the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or aword of encouragement to a puppet in need.

Alongwith singing the atmosphere, while the decorations set the stage foreach particula, traditional musical instruments like drums, woodenbells, cymbals, horns, two-string Chinese violins and flutes create rstyle of water puppetry. Researcher Nguyen Huy Hong believes that waterpuppetry combines sculpture, architecture, painting, music, stage andliterature.

Content

Thetheme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamesefolklore. It tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamesefolk tales that are told older generation to younger generation. Ofwhich stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals arehighlighted.

Thewater also provides the best setting for the puppeteers' theme:day-to-day village life. Water puppets bring wry humor to scenes offarming, fishing, festival events such as buffalo fights, andchildren's games of marbles and coin-toss. Fishing turns into a game ofwits between the fisherman and his prey, with the fisherman getting theshort end (often capturing his surprised neighbor by mistake). Besidesvillage life, scenes include legends and national history. Lion dogsromp like puppies while dragons exhale smoke and shoot sprays of waterat the audience. Teu, a pig-tailed bumpkin, is the character whousually plays the role of introducing the performances. Theintroduction is always accompanied by a small folk orchestra.Spotlights and colorful flags adorn the stage and create a festiveatmosphere.

Legendsand national history are also told through short skits. Many of theskits, especially those involving the tales of day-to-day living, oftenhave a humorous twist.

Waterpuppetry has always gone hand in hand with festivals. Each Lunar March13, Bo Duong villagers hold village festival to commemorate theirtutelary god. Aside from worship, the festival is also an opportunityfor villagers to relax by watching water puppetry, taking in fireworksdisplays, flying kites and entering cock-fighting contests. Thefestival always attracts thousands of attendants. Village festivals aregreat wind down for farmers and artists alike.