![]() The main players are four mythical beasts: the dragon, unicorn, phoenix, and turtle. Nationalistic themes such as fighting against foreign invaders are vividly reenacted. Traditional water puppetry may have developed as early as 1121 in the villages along the Red River Delta where legends of kings and mythical monsters are part of the folklore. ![]() This was their first performance outside of Vietnam, although another troupe from Hanoi has performed in Europe, Japan, and Australia. The 19-member Hao Phuong (Hao Phuong means Red Flower) Water Puppet Troupe is among a handful of professional companies. We based the music of Cheo on the folk music of different regions of the country."ĪMATEUR troupes still play in some villages in the north. During former times it was composed by talented girls and boys who performed at festivals, then returned to their villages to work in the rice fields. "It's composed by the people, not by professional musicians. "While European operas are composed by one person, Cheo is composed collectively," he said, speaking through an interpreter. ![]() During performances he played percussion instruments. Musicians, who adopt lyrics to accompany stories from the north and central parts of the country, are expected to improvise, said Vu Thieu Loan, deputy director of the theater and of Cultural and Information Services in Hai Phong City. ![]() Puppeteers were accompanied by musicians on the xylophone, drums, dan nhi (a double-stringed instrument), bau (a single-stringed lute), gongs, flutes, cymbals, and clappers of metal and wood. Though an English translation was not provided, a synopsis in the program was sufficient to explain the action on stage. The show combines water puppetry, known as Mua Roi Nuoc, with scenes from Vietnamese folk opera, called Cheo, featuring live performers. The Hoa Phuong Troupe performed against a red and gold pagoda, an ornate backdrop for the dragons, unicorns, king, fairy princesses, foxes, and festive birds cavorting on a shimmering aquatic stage. The logistics of transporting a 32-by-22-foot water tank restricted their locations to stages capable of tolerating the tank's weight - 150 pounds per square foot. They traveled with a large tank built by their sponsors, Movement Theatre International of Philadelphia. On the US tour, puppeteers, singers, dancers, and musicians from Hai Phong, a port city 60 miles east of Hanoi, spent the past month and a half adapting to landlocked urban landscapes in Cambridge, Mass., Philadelphia, Washington, and Lexington, Va. It was common in villages of the Red River Delta where land, water, and sky intermingle. Joseph Bangert, president of the USA-Vietnam Society, hosted the troupe during their last stop in Cambridge, Mass., at which about 40 protesters voiced their opposition.ĭespite the politicization of the art form today, water puppetry was originally performed on the surface of ponds in the open air with spectators seated at water's edge. "We are honored to introduce them to the American public." Members charged the Vietnamese government with violating human rights and limiting expression."Because of politics, the art form has never been seen in America," according to Michael Pedretti, artistic director of Movement Theatre International in Philadelphia. for the purpose of its political campaign to gain diplomatic recognition from the United States." Demonstrators representing Vietnamese-American groups charged the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with "ingeniously exploiting art. Nine groups had previously signed a statement protesting the presence of Vietnam's ambassador to the United Nations, Trinh Xuan Lang. The Hao Phuong Water Puppet Theatre overcame language barriers, transporting Westerners into a water-borne world of rice paddies populated by frog catchers, fairies, and mythical monsters.īut the gala opening night was not all sizzle and pop the festivities were punctuated with chants of sidewalk protesters from the Vietnamese-American community while the puppeteers played in a stone tabernacle. PERFORMING a unique peasant art, the Water Puppets of Vietnam made an impressive American debut here recently, with the sizzle and pop of dancing dragons spewing fireworks.
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