![]() In a unique performance like no other, historical stories are told through puppets on water. A popular tourist spot, it stays open all days of the week. ![]() And when in Vietnam, there is no better place to experience it than at The Thang Long Water Theater in Hanoi. Thang Long Water Puppet Theater offers the most authentic experience with a Vietnamese orchestra playing traditional songs about agricultural harvests and mythical legends that are acted out by puppets in a pool of water. A famous ancient Vietnamese tradition, water puppetry has been in practice for thousands of years. Aside from the general admission fee of VND 100,000, there's an additional camera or video fee if you wish to photograph or film the show. The theatre is modern and usually shows 17 short sketches within a one-hour performance. It is also advisable to pay more to get closer to the action as the theatre seats a few hundred people and the puppets are not that big. Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hanoi with tickets selling out well in advance so it’s worth booking yours as soon as you arrive in town. The Vietnamese tradition of water puppetry dates back to the 11th century when the rice fields got flooded and the villagers made entertainment by standing in water with puppets. Traditional puppets now also have a new role as ambassadors of the environment or to give warnings about social evils like illegal motorbike racing.The Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is the best place to witness the eponymous art form integral to the country. Phan Thanh Liem never stops thinking of improvement and bringing new life experience to his theater. He named his creation “one-man water puppet show”. ![]() But, with Liem’s theater, he can sit on a bench to control the puppets. In the old days with big theaters, artists had to stand in a big pond with water up to their chests for hours long. His theater is smaller, movable for his shows at different places. He can control multiple puppets at a time. Artist Phan Thanh Liem, creator of the mobile theater and new puppet designs. It makes traditional theater next to impossible to be moved. The traditional theater can be as big as 10 meters wide with a lot of heavy decorations. So, in a play of 5 characters, 5 artists are essential to handle properly. But, one artist can only control one puppet at a time. Traditional puppets are made of fig wood and attached to a long stick so artists can control it. As it evolved over the centuries from folk art to a more established art form, the simple theater. Many towns and villages in this area feature communal ponds, and it was in these public spaces that the art of water puppetry first developed in the eleventh century AD. Mai Vi, the vice minister came and liked it a lot” The creator of the mobile theater and new puppet designs for what most of the guests watch Hanoi water puppet show nowadays! Water puppetry has its origins in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. We took great effort to make the first show in a mobile theater and invited the Ministry of Culture to come. At that time things were not in good conditions like those nowadays. I then studied and created the mobile water theater. In 1982, I was sent here to work in this Nam Chan water puppet assembly. At first, I crafted puppets and trained actors.” – Artist Pham Thanh Liem said in one of his interview. After the Center Theater came and watched my shows, they asked me to come to the capital city to work for them. ![]() Old men in the assembly and in the village respected me to be young but could do both crafting puppets and performing. I was the youngest to learn at age of 10 and I could perform it when I was 14, 15. “In the old days in this village, there were about 40 people who could handle this art. He was also the first in Vietnam to form the very first private water puppet incorporation, “Sông Ngọc”, for doing shows nationwide. Plus, he is also the creator of “Chú Tễu” (the M.C) which now displays in the Louvre Museum in France. Also, that creation is now for use in all water puppet theaters. Indeed, he was the one who brought water puppets from the village’s ponds into theaters. Do not miss out on a unique entertainment genre in Vietnam – Hanoi water puppet show!įamous water puppet artist Phan Van Ngai, father of Phan Thanh Liem devoted his whole life to the Vietnamese water puppetry in general, Hanoi water puppet show in particular. ![]()
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