Hanoi: Vietnamese Water Puppets

Water puppetry dates back to the 11th century in northern Vietnam. The stage is a shallow pool of water and the puppeteers stand waist deep in the water behind a screen to control the puppets from under the water.

I was a little skeptical going in because our guide basically said the show was boring and that people in his other groups fell asleep.  He was dead wrong. It was great! Even though we couldnt understand a word, the program and the show was enough to make it enjoyable. We were all extremely impressed at the versatility of the puppets.

Some puppets shot water, some even had fire coming out. There were big puppets and little puppets and long strings of puppets.

The musicians sat on the sidea of the stage and the two women near the audience sang and voiced the parts as well as provided sound effects.

It was only an hour long but well worth the time.