![]() Teu is the first puppet to take the stage from behind the screen. His belly is usually exposed and he wears either an unbuttoned red vest or just a loincloth. The virtual emcee of a water puppet show is the Chu Teu (Little Teu), a tiny and comical wooden figure of a four year-old. Mobile theatres use only bamboo for easy transportation. The stage structure is designed to look like a real dinh and is made of either bamboo or brick. The common backdrop for the stage is the image of a communal house, or dinh, with its curved red roof. They were made from the wood of a jackfruit tree and painted with a special substance extracted from what was known as a "tree of paint" ( cay son), with a few other ingredients added in. The amazing thing is that despite all this water the puppets never actually get wet, unless of course the scene calls for them to go diving underwater and popping back up again.Ī traditional Vietnamese band sits to the side of the stage and accompanies the show, while those people singing and doing the puppets' voices sit next to the puppeteers. The surface area is usually about four to five metres long and three to four metres deep. From behind the screen they manipulate the wooden puppets with bamboo rods while standing chest-deep in water to enact dramatic scenes using the water's surface as a stage floor. To perform the show, the puppeteers themselves hide behind a long screen. #Water puppetry vietnam free#Scenes such as farmers both meticulously caring for their ricefields and enjoying what free time they can muster as they relax between harvests are also common themes.īut whether waxing historical or showing a bit of good old farmer fun, the outfits worn by the puppets in these shows are always representative of the periods in which the tale is set. Important national happenings like the Trung Sisters' Uprising Movement against the Han invaders and the Battle over the Bach Dang River led by famed hero Tran Hung Dao are typical examples of historical scenes one might see portrayed in a water puppet show. These show are often used to depict events in the country's history. A water puppet show is in many ways a two-hour enactment of the main aspects of Vietnamese life and history - and the building and defending of the country against the forces of man and nature. Watching a water puppet show, one gets a general picture of the daily activities typical to Vietnam's rural areas. Keeping the water puppet tradition alive in Hanoi. Since then the art has developed into an important part of Vietnam's cultural heritage.Īnd although hundreds of types of puppets and performances can be found throughout the country, the art is still mostly concentrated in northern and central Vietnam. In the past, and in some places still today, rural folks would sit on the edge of a pond to watch the performance. Water puppetry reached its height of popularity among Vietnamese people during the 18 th century, when many Mua Roi Nuoc troupes started offering audiences a wide range of performances. Jump-starting the development of the country'sĪt that time, famous puppetry guilds began to appear around the country, concentrated mostly in Red River Delta provinces and other northern midland areas. Showing up at village festivals and ceremonies, thus Palaces of the Le and Nguyen dynasties and began Of water puppetry escaped the confines of the royal On a stone stele dating back to the 11 thĬentury eulogising the merits of King Ly Nhan Tong.Īfter a period of rapid development from the Is not known, but an early record of the art was found The exact time when water puppetry began in Vietnam Themselves, water puppetry has often been called the Traditional link to the earth, water and rice growers The fact remains that today this art cannot be foundĪnywhere in the world but Vietnam. Whether or not this is true is open to debate, but Have you believe that Vietnam's art of water puppetry, or Mua Roi Nuoc, ![]()
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