Themes of love, friendship, self-respect, and honesty are typically highlighted. With a child audience, for example, the puppeteers perform typical scenes featuring a water-spurting dragon, the dance of four sacred animals, two fans fighting over a ball, and a golden buffalo. Hoang Nhu, a junior at HCM City University of Education, said it was depressing that few young adults had interest in the traditional arts, and even view the cultural and artistic values of water puppetry lightly.Ĭá chép hoá rồng (Carps turn into dragons), the most must-see story at the Phuong Nam Theatre, is suitable for all ages. The theatre, however, usually chooses stories geared to different ages. Despite potential health problems, they love these drinks, no matter how much they cost. Ngoc Diep, a final-year student at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said it was great to keep up with the times but traditional arts, especially water puppetry, should not be ignored.Īt milk tea shops in the city, many young people queue for up to 20 minutes and are willing to spend VND40,000 (US$1.70) to VND80,000 (US$3.50 for a drink. Hai said the pandemic had affected the operation of theatres as the number of foreign visitors had fallen sharply and most local tourists were parents and their children. And very few students were going to the theatre to enjoy performances, even though tickets were only VND50,000 (US$2). The story about ‘‘driving away the fox to protect the ducks’’ intrigues preschool students watching a water puppetry show.ĭespite the positive contribution to the preservation of Vietnam’s intangible cultural values, water puppetry in HCM City is gradually disappearing. "When the pandemic situation is stable, we will reopen to operate according to schedule," Hai added. Hai said they only accept performances under contract but will strictly comply with the Ministry of Health’s guidance to wear masks, carry out frequent disinfection, maintain a safe distance, refrain from gatherings and make health declarations.
However, due to the development of the pandemic in recent weeks, the theatre is temporarily closed, according to Thai Ngoc Hai, the head of the water puppetry team of Phuong Nam Theatre.
Today, in HCM City, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Phuong Nam Theatre at the HCM City Museum of History, where I saw the show, is the only theatre offering water puppetry performances, beginning at 10am and 3pm every Saturday and Sunday at 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street in District 1. Instead of a rice paddy, a two-square-metre pool of water was used as the stage "floor". Water puppetry later became popular in cities such as Hanoi and in other areas in northern Vietnam. That’s why the original water puppet festivals were held in rice paddies, with a pagoda built on top to hide the puppeteers standing in the water. When the rice fields flooded, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play. They discovered that the water was an excellent medium for puppetry and that it could conceal the puppeteers’ rods and strings, as well as provide exciting effects like waves and splashes. It taught me a lot about the special cultural value of this traditional Vietnamese art, which began in the 11th century in the villages of the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam. I had always thought that such performances were just about a group of puppets dancing on water. But after the show ended, I realised I now had a much deeper understanding of the history of water puppetry.
It was the first water puppetry show that I attended last month. This lively scene was all part of the charming atmosphere of a Vietnamese water puppetry show, magically created by puppeteers standing waist-deep in water hidden behind a split bamboo screen, moving their creations to the music of traditional Vietnamese instruments like a bamboo flute. On the stage, which resembled a pagoda, were multi-coloured lanterns, spotlights and pink lotus flowers. Preschool students at Era Angels Kindergarten School in HCM City welcome a water puppetry show recently before the new wave of COVID-19 spread through the country.
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