The Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi showcases Vietnam’s unique water puppetry, a cultural experience originating from rice fields, a report by Saeed, exclusively for Different Truths.

Located in the heart of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is one of the major attractions for tourists visiting Vietnam. The theatre offers spectators a mesmerising cultural experience, showcasing one of Vietnam’s unique folk-art forms – water puppetry.

Water puppetry originated in the Red River delta and other rice-growing regions of northern Vietnam about a thousand years ago, during the Lý dynasty. Every year, to celebrate the end of the rice harvest, farmers would gather for folk singing and dancing at village festivals and water puppets played an important part in the entertainment at these festivals. The puppet performances were held in harvested rice fields, which were filled with water to create a water stage. The popularity of the shows soon spread to other parts of the country and the skill of the puppeteers soon attracted royal patronage providing the much-needed encouragement for the development of this traditional art form. From its humble origins in the rice paddy deltas, today this unique art form is performed in sophisticated theatres not only in major cities of Vietnam, but also at several international cultural festivals as well.

The show involves a team of highly talented professional puppeteers standing waist-deep in water and manipulating puppets using bamboo sticks and string. What is amazing is that the puppeteers are totally unseen, hidden behind a bamboo screen decorated to resemble a temple façade. The effect created is surreal with these little mannequins floating or gliding across on a bed of water, which is, actually, a stage made of water. The brightly painted wooden puppets are attired in colourful costumes and enact little puppet skits offering vignettes of daily farming and fishing activities and village life based on tales and legends from traditional folklore. The puppet plays are accompanied by a live orchestra playing traditional Vietnamese music and a commentary in song by folk singers. Some of the performances bring to life time honoured traditions and legends such as  the Dance of the Four Holy Animals – the Dragon, the Unicorn, the Turtle and the Phoenix or the spectacular Boat Trip of the Emperor Le Loi.

The duration of each performance is between 50 minutes to an hour and there are usually three shows each day at 3.30 pm, 6.30 pm and 9.15 pm and 9.30 am on Sundays. The ticket price varies from about 5 to 10 US dollars per person and tickets can be purchased in advance through the theatre’s website or at the box office on the day of the show. During the peak tourist season the queues can be long and you would do well to arrive early.

If you are in Vietnam don’t miss this unusual and highly enjoyable cultural experience.

Photographs by the author

Saeed Ibrahim

Bangalore-based writer, Saeed Ibrahim, is the author of two books – “Twin Tales from Kutcch,” a family saga set in Colonial India, and “The Missing Tile and Other Stories.” Saeed was educated at St. Mary’s High School and St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai and, later, at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris. His other writings include newspaper articles, travel essays, several book reviews and two essays for the Museum of Material Memory.