We attended my Vietnamese friend’s wedding in Hanoi. Directly after, we went to a theater located northeast of Hoan Kiem Lake. This theater is very special, as it features traditional water puppetry. The traditional shows held at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre date back to the 11th century. They originate in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Villagers developed this form of entertainment when the rice paddy fields were flooded.

The shows were performed with the puppeteers standing in waist-deep water and hiding behind a screen. They used a large bamboo rod under the water. This made the wooden puppets move across the water.

Nowadays, water puppetry is performed in a pool of water. The water surface serves as the stage, like the one at the Thang Long Theatre. Established in 1969, the theater has five one-hour shows per day that are usually packed with foreign tourists. I paid an extra fee for the entrance ticket. I wanted to use my camera inside the theater.

The stage resembles a temple facade, and the orchestra is located at the left side of the stage. The orchestra consists of drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, Đàn bầu (monochord), gongs, and bamboo flutes. The puppet performances are accompanied by traditional music played by the orchestra and authentic North Vietnamese operatic songs called chèo. These songs tell the stories being acted out by the puppets.

Although the songs were in Vietnamese, I can tell that they were about the daily life of Vietnamese farmers. The songs also recounted Vietnamese folk tales and legends. One such story is about the Vietnamese emperor Le Loi returning his magical sword to the golden turtle. At the end of the show, the puppeteers revealed themselves to bow to the audience.

It was definitely a nice experience watching the water puppetry in HaNoi.