From tech to household and wellness products. Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.
Vietnams water puppetry manual#
Like other puppet craftsmen in the village, Viem doesn't earn enough to support his family making the marionettes so he picks up work on the side as a manual labourer.īut he perseveres, hopeful the next generation might pick up a passion he says runs in his blood. "There are new types of entertainment now, electronic devices and the internet, so apart from festivals we can't perform all the time because (local) people don't watch a lot," said Pham Dinh Viem, a third-generation puppet carver from a craft village in Thai Binh province. READ: Vietnam's capital to ban motorbikes by 2030 More than half of Vietnam's 93 million people are under 30 and often prefer their entertainment in digital form. "When our children and later generations see performances they will be just like the original versions," he told AFP.ĭespite its ancient roots – or perhaps because of them – the shows draw little attention from local Vietnamese viewers, especially millennials. The tropes haven't changed much, and neither have the hand-carved wooden figures of animals, boats, farmers or fish painted in brilliant golds, reds and greens, according to Chu Luong, the director of Thang Long theatre. The shows traditionally featured age-old fables and mythical lore, like the famous Hanoi parable about a Vietnamese king's treasured sword that was used to fight off Chinese invaders.
The earliest record of the performances is on a 12th-century stele that still stands at a pagoda in northern Ha Nam province, but historians say water puppetry likely originated even earlier. Vietnam is the birthplace of the centuries-old art form that emerged in the northern rice paddies as entertainment for farmers.
"I could really see people fishing, dancing and all the different performances that happened." "I've never seen a puppet show that way with the water," American tourist Caroline Thomoff told AFP after a show. The shows at Hanoi's Thang Long theatre have become a staple on the well-trodden tourist circuit and draw thousands every week, including many first-time viewers. Some of the puppets weigh as much as 10kg (22 pounds) and the largest ones, like the one-metre-tall (three-foot) fairy, require four people to manipulate. READ: Vietnam streetfood cocktails make a splash "But our years of training and experience helps us control them," added Hoai, who like many of her colleagues graduated from Hanoi's College of Theatre and Cinema. and the water also creates resistance," said puppeteer Nguyen Thu Hoai, who swapped her galoshes for flip-flops between sold-out shows. HANOI – In a darkened theatre in central Hanoi, Vietnam, a wooden dragon emerges from a pool to the sound of cymbals crashing in a traditional and ancient water puppet show that lures hundreds of tourists daily but is largely shunned by locals.īackstage behind a thin bamboo screen, around 20 puppeteers slosh around waist-deep in rubber overalls wielding the marionettes with long rods.
0 kommentar(er)
