Water puppets in Saigon

Meanwhile, back in Viet Nam...

In our global society, sometimes it seems like there are few surprises.  Most everything I saw for sale in Japan or China or Viet Nam, I could also buy in the US (with the exception of foods).  My home town has lots of choices of ethnic food.  And people throughout Asia are driving the same cars, using the same cell phones, and listening to the same music as Americans do.

But I am told that water puppets exist only in Viet Nam.

I saw two different water puppet performances while I was there.  These pictures are from the theatre attached to the history museum.  They have an open air stage with rows of simple chairs, which give it a garden feel.  Before each little story, a woman gave us the plot line.  Fortunately, the plots are pretty simple to pick up, because I couldn't get onto the woman's wavelength.  Something about her intonation made it very difficult to tell she was speaking English.

The second show was at a fancy theatre, with a live orchestra and plush movie theatre seats.  I loved having the orchestra, which played a central role in commenting on the action, as well as providing background music.  But the juxtaposition of plush seats and a pond of water was jarring for me.  (I was asked to step in to lead a trip of students to dinner and the show; I am not becoming a water puppet junkie.)

Several of the stories were exactly the same at both theatres, which leads me to believe that they are beloved folk tales.  Here, the man and his wife argue, a cat comes to steal one of the ducks and causes mayhem.  In another, the man is fishing with a net and the wife the idea to fish with a basket.  The fish jump wildly, the woman finally catches one, and the scene ends with the man being overwhelmed by the fish jumping into his net.

All of this is accomplished by four (or six, in the larger theatre) puppeteers who are standing waist deep in the water.  You never see them until they come out at the end to wave and receive your applause.  The puppets are on long rods the color of the water, which you also do not see.  The dragons spit fire and water at each other, the fish jump, the swimmers do acrobatics and wind up making a tower.  It's very impressing stuff for eight hands and a few rods.

In America, puppets are generally for children.  (Ignore Avenue Q.)  In the rest of the world, they have a more central place in the culture and in religion.  In Viet Nam, they are literally making waves.