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Water puppetry is believed to have originated from thevillages in the Red River Delta region of Northern Vietnamin 11th century CE. While rod, string and hand puppetry arewell-developed in many parts of Southeast Asia, waterpuppetry is an art form that is unique to Vietnam.

Before the spread of Confucianism and Buddhism from China,the ancient Vietnamese were steeped in animalistic andshamanistic beliefs. Spirits are believed to control all aspectsof life, from the kitchen to the rice fields. Water puppetrywas seen as a way to placate these potentially malevolentspirits. Another theory, however, explains that theVietnamese were simply being their usual ingenious selvesin using flooded rice fields as impromptu stages to continuetheir craft during the rainy season.

Water PuppetryArticle and photos by Vincent Lim Sui-leong

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Puppets, often weighing up to 15 kilograms, are crafted fromwood and lacquered for waterproofing. Shows are staged inwaist-deep pools of water. Hidden behind a split-bambooscreen decorated with banners and flags to simulate a temple

faade, puppeteers would manipulate the puppets using anintricate system of rods, pulleys and strings concealed underthe murky water. This creates the illusion of puppets movingover water, and thus the Vietnamese name ma roi noc,which literally means puppets that dance on water.Though originally confined to the rice fields, portable tankswere later built by enterprising travelling performers, sothat they can uproot and continue to make their living

outside the rainy season and in other places. Nowadays,water puppet shows are staged in theatres equipped withspotlights and modern sound systems.

A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides the backgroundmusic accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals,drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, n bau(monochord), gongs, and bamboo flutes. The clear and

dignified notes of a bamboo flute accompany theappearance of royalty, while the dramatic clashing of

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drums and cymbals announces the entrance of fire-breathing dragons. Singers of cho (a form of opera)provide lyrical narration for the stories acted out.

Interestingly, musicians and puppets often interact duringa performance. For instance, the musician may yell aword of warning to a character in danger, or even counsela character in despair.

The performance usually comprise of a series of skits.Snapshots of bucolic rural life feature predominantly:harvesting season, kite-flying festival, a pair of fighting cocks,

a farmer chasing a fox up a tree for stealing his chickens,boys catching fishes and frogs with bamboo traps, and thetop scholar returning to his home village with gifts andpompous fanfare. Another popular subject matter is folkloresand legends: fire-breathing dragons, the acrobatic courtshipforays of a pair of phoenixes, the mesmerising dance ofthe celestial maidens, and King L Loi returning theMiraculous Sword to the Golden Turtle (Vietnams version

of King Arthur and the Excalibur).

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This quaint art form nearly became extinct duringVietnams protracted war from 1950s to 1970s. It wasonly recently revived and made known to the world as a

result of Vietnams adoption of open-door policies andnormalised relations with the West. Since the early 1990s,three companies in particular National Puppet Theatre,Thng Long Puppet Company and Ho Ch Minh City PuppetCompany have gained international recognition for thequality of their performances, and there has been aconstant demand for them to appear overseas. Havingemerged from the murky depths of the countrys war-

torn history, the future is looking bright for water puppetryas it dances in the spotlight on the international stage.