Often, singers of chèo, Vietnamese opera, belt out beautiful songs that tell the stories being acted out. It’s even typical for the musicians to break off and shout words of warning to the puppets, if danger lies ahead.
Nowadays, the shows are always accompanied by a Vietnamese orchestra, weaving beautiful music from the likes of bamboo flutes, horns, drums, wooden bells and string guitars. Over the past 1,000 years, the traditional art of water puppetry has evolved.
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Michael Driver / © Culture Trip The evolving tradition Nguyen continues: “Today modern Vietnam has become a very fast developing country filled with technology, big changes and fast moving lifestyle, however the symbol of agriculture never disappeared, and water puppetry remains a cultural symbol and traditional entertainment, so it can be seen as something Vietnamese people are proud of.”Īs you watch the puppets skim across water, perfectly in sync and sometimes even passing objects between one another, it’s impossible to understand how the talented artists work their magic from behind the pagoda screen, their hands beneath the murky, mudded waters. Even now, puppeteers have to train for three years before they can perform and methods can still remain a family secret.īesides the wonderful show itself, it’s this mystery that now draws the thousands of Hanoi tourists every year into the theatre.
They passed skills down generations – but only to sons, for fear that daughters would marry outside of the village and reveal their magic formula.
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Khoi Nguyen, Hanoi local and founder of Instagram’s says: “The puppetry reflects the culture of ancient Vietnamese, which is mainly agriculture, because the original story of water puppetry comes from Vietnamese farmers.”įrom the early days, farmers took the art very seriously and kept the secret of how to control the puppets tight within their family.
Thus, the liquid stage – which hides the puppeteers, helps with acoustics and gives the show a mystical shimmer – was born. It’s thought that the water aspect came in when large floods hit the rice paddies at Red River Delta and farmers adapted their conventional puppetry, operating the wooden figures from waist-deep water. The farmers built pagodas above their rice paddies and held community festival shows there to show off their creations and well-practised puppeteering skills. They also believed the shows kept the naughty spirits distracted from any mischief making, which could harm their crops. The art dates back to the 11th century on the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam, when rice farmers began to craft their puppets and create shows to entertain their family and locals once the difficult harvest season had finished. To this day, when visitors to Hanoi flock to the main theatre to experience the unusual art, it isn’t known how the little figures are mastered so seamlessly by hidden puppeteers. Water puppetry – known in Vietnam as Múa rối nước, meaning ‘making puppets dance on water’ – is a Vietnamese tradition steeped in history, folklore and mystery. Michael Driver / © Culture Trip The history of water puppetry It’s another night in Hanoi’s Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, and it’s as weird and wonderful as it sounds. Against the backdrop of the beautiful Asian pagoda, there’s singing, cheering and warnings shouted in Vietnamese from members of the band. A tiny wooden man rides a bull across a smoking river and dances in sync with fairies and animals. Kim Gregory tells us why this spellbinding spectacle is a Vietnamese tradition not to be missed.Īs drums roll and cymbals clash, dragons dance across water with fire sparking from their mouths. One of the most interesting and unusual attractions is at Thang Long Municipal Theatre, where visitors can watch the ancient art of water puppetry at one of the legendary shows.
Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi is steeped in tradition and history.
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