Music is an integral part of the show with the instrumentalists often shouting words of encouragement to the puppets. The movements have to match the up-tempo music and vividly resemble a lion and phoenix. Some of the dances, such as the lion and phoenix, are very energy consuming and require great practice and skill. They stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade from where they manipulate the puppets on their bamboo rods. They train for at least three years and in the past, the skill was passed from father to son. Today the water puppets have been significantly updated with new techniques making it easier to construct and control, creating better effects.Įach water puppet show involves 7-11 puppeteers. It requires strenuous effort to control the puppets but with skillful manipulation, they can swim, catch fish, cross swords, row a boat, raise a flock of ducks, dance, jump, spurt fire and kick a ball.
The paddle will rotate when the base moves, making the puppet spin around or in a certain direction, depending on whether a rudder is installed. Alternatively, the puppet’s base may be directly attached to a rod accompanied with a paddle.
The puppet is controlled via strong thin string attached inside, running through loops on the side of the rod to reach the puppeteer’s hand. Thus, the puppets appear to be moving over the water. A large bamboo rod supports the puppets underwater, which is the puppeteers’ control mechanism. The internal apparatus connects the puppet’s limbs to strings, allowing different parts to be moved and manipulated. The puppets are hollow inside with a detachable back. If used on a daily basis the average life span of a water puppet is four months, meaning some villages in Northern Vietnam are able a maintain their income and livelihoods solely by manufacturing water puppets. When creating a new water puppet the artisan must think of the movements and the operation mechanism involved.
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Puppet makers must be good at designing and carving plus with a good knowledge of the complicated movements of water puppets. Once dry the puppets are painted in a variety of colors forming their faces, figures and clothes. Next, artisans polish the surface and apply a black lacquer coating. This stage is similar to plastering, which gives the puppets a waterproof surface.
Next, a mixture of Vietnamese lacquer and alluvium from the Red River is applied to the puppets. Then the artist covers them with nets for protection. After being carved, any cracks are filled with lacquer. There are five main stages of construction. Puppets are carved from fig wood, the most endurable and suitable material and each can weigh up to 15kg.
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Nowadays water puppet performances tend to be help in one of three venues – on village ponds, on portable tanks built for travelling performances or, as in Hanoi and major cities, in specialized water puppet theaters with specially constructed pool stages. It also hides the puppet operational equipment and puppeteer movements, enhances the acoustics and provides a shimmering lightening effect.
The water serves a dual purpose – it is the puppets’ stage whilst and a symbolic link to the rice harvest. Original water puppet festivals were those literally held inside a rice paddy, with a pagoda built on top to hide the puppeteers, who stand waist deep in water. When the rice fields flooded, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play. The tradition of water puppetry dates back to the 11th Century originating in the villages of the Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Hanoi is the iconic Water Puppets Show, or Mua Roi Nuoc in Vietnamese, meaning, “ making puppets dance on water“.
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