WATER PUPPETS

We bought this fellow in a market place in Hanoi. He is a water puppet and he is called Happy Man.

Water Puppets or Mua Roi Nuoc is a unique art form that began in the Red River Delta region of Northern Vietnam in the tenth century. Farmers devised a form of entertainment using the natural material that they found in their environment. In ancient times, the ponds and the rice paddies after a harvest were the stage for these impromptu shows.

This art form has only found its way to the world stage in recent years as a result of the normalized relations with the West. Today the Than Long Puppet Troupe is the most well know in Ha Noi.

Modern, water puppetry is performed in a pool with water as the stage. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface.

The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg. A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. Singers of Cheo (a form of opera) also with its origins in North Vietnam perform songs while the puppets act out the story.

The themes of most stories are usually based in a rural setting and have a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. The tales are about day-to-day life and folk tales that grandparents tell to their grandchildren. The puppets act out stories of the harvest, of fishing and of the festivals. Legends and national history are also told through these short skits. Many of the skits especially those involving the tales of daily life, often have a humorous twist in the end.