Water Puppets; An Antidote to Grumpiness – 18 June 2008

Water Puppets; An Antidote to Grumpiness – 18 June 2008

When I was in Hanoi changes to my appointments meant that I missed the water puppet show that I had booked for so I was keen to see one in Ho Chi Minh. I selected one from the pamphlets available and made a booking in the morning. There was a risk that it would be an unfortunate touristy experience but I love puppetry and having heard from Anne D how much she enjoyed it I thought that it was worth a try. Apparently this theatre originally arose in the north where it was traditionally performed in the rice paddies.

Thinking that I had plenty of time I set off on foot to find the theatre. As darkness approached and rain threatened I became increasingly grouchy as I searched for the theatre. Unhelpful directions from geographically challenged locals and what I thought was a poorly drawn map on the pamphlet repeatedly set me off in the wrong direction. I was aware that if I was traveling with someone else that this would have been one of those occasions when you begin to talk to each other through clenched teeth. Stomping along and muttering increasingly loudly about Vietnamese maps, footpaths and weather I had decided to give up when I stumbled across the theatre completely by accident. My mood was not improved by my realization that the problem had arisen entirely from my own erroneous assumption about the road numbering system.

Fortunately it turns out that water puppetry is a great antidote for grumpiness. The performance was slightly crazy and at times very funny. Six jolly people performed the narration and played traditional instruments while the nine puppeteers, standing waist deep in water and hidden behind screens, manipulated a series of puppets in a murky pool. Colorful, naïve wooden puppet figures of people, dragons, frogs, fish, birds, boats, buffalos and butterflies crazily dipped, splashed and danced in their water stage. There were seventeen short stories with titles such as “On a Buffalo with a Flute”, “Returning to the Native Land after Winning the First Place of Nation-wide Exam” and “Catching Frogs”. Not being able to understand the narration did not detract from the show at all – in fact it may have enhanced it.

There were few people in the audience but everyone seemed to like the show. I particularly enjoyed a little girl who, entranced by some odd fairy puppets performing a strange stiff winged dance, came down to the waters edge and danced in unison with them. Having had a good laugh, albeit not always at places intended by the performers, I walked back to my hotel a much more cheerful and positive person.