"Not watching a performance of water puppetry means not visiting Vietnam yet". This is the practical advice appearing in many guidebooks in Vietnam. And it is so true that most visitors to Vietnam try to watch a performance of water puppetry at least once. And after the performance, most of them are excited and always repeat this advice to their relatives who are going to take a tour to the beautiful country named Vietnam.
Water Puppetry is full of joys, lighting and colors, myriad charms and shocking surprises. This is the feeling of those who are watching a performance of water puppetry. Now, we can watch water puppetry on videotapes, CDs or television programs. However, none of these can replace a real-time performance in which we sit near a sparkling water surface.
At the village pond, a swimming pool or the water stage in the puppetry theater, colorful puppets dance and perform numerous interesting items accompanied by animated music and singing. They can even perform acrobatics or spectacular acts which cannot be done by modern robots. You will see no puppeteer, no machines or instruments, and even no controlling strings and poles. You only watch the puppets on a shimmering water surface.
Water puppetry is performed in a chest-deep pool of water, with the water's surface as a stage. The puppeteers stand behind a curtained backdrop. First performed a thousand years ago on the surface of ponds and paddy fields in Vietnam's Red River Delta, water puppetry is the lively creation of farmers who spent their days in flooded rice fields. At some point, they discovered that the water was an excellent medium for puppetry: it not only concealed the puppeteers' rod and string mechanisms, but it also provided exciting effects like waves and splashes.
The water also provides the best setting for the puppeteers' theme: day-to-day village life. Water puppets bring wry humor to scenes of farming, fishing, festival events such as buffalo fights, and children's games of marbles and coin-toss. Fishing turns into a game of wits between the fisherman and his prey, with the fisherman getting the short end. Besides village life, scenes include legends and national history.
Like in other traditional performing arts -popular opera, classical opera, and renovated opera -a water puppetry programme always starts with a boisterous music composition to attract attention and create a joyful atmosphere.
In modern theaters, the orchestra consists of professional musicians and singers. They play traditional musical instruments like drums, clarinets, cymbals, Chinese guitars, bamboo flutes, zithars, and twostringed violins. The most noteworthy instrument is the monochord with a single string which can create wonderful tune found in Vietnam only. The singers not only accompany performing items but also converse with puppets, especially Uncle Tễu, a puppet functioning as a humerous and intelligent M.C.
Previously, such open and impromptu talks between the audience and performers was an indispensable part of the village's performances. In the past, most Vietnamese farmers in the Red River Delta had a great passion for popular opera performance at their village's communal houses during traditional festivals.Tunes and songs all originate from of folk music. Audiences are treated to classic tunes that harken back to simpler times.
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