The origin of Vietnamese water-puppet art
Vietnamese water-puppet art came into being around one thousand years, an original creation of Red River Delta Viet community. This was the quintessence of North Vietnam wet rice civilization together with the continuous creativeness of artisan-artistic generations transmitted through times by tens folkloric water puppet theatrical bands.
Those that created and conserved water-puppet art mainly were farmers living in rural environment. They were both participants to creation and enthusiastic spectators. They closely and consistently connected with their creative and endemic water puppet art. They composed puppet play-games, shaped puppets, set and mounted puppet devices, composed introductory words, dialogues, song words and music. They also played actors manipulating the puppets. Long, long ago, water-puppet art was becoming entertainment and leisure in festive occasions or celebrations in villages. Only since 1956, part of this folkloric performance art could become a professional performance art.
Now, Vietnam is even sustaining much of long-existing and well-known water-puppet bands such as Dong Ngu (Bac Ninh Province), Hong Phong, Bui Thuong, Thanh Hai (Hai Duong Province), Nhan Hoa (Hai Phong), Chang Son, Binh Phu, Thach Xa, Te Tieu (Ha Tay), Dao Thuc (Hanoi), Dong Cac, Nguyen Xa (Thai Binh Province), Nam Chan, Nam Giang (Nam Dinh Province), bands... Simultaneously, some professional puppet units were built, sustained and developed where played both marionette and water-puppet forms. These include now Hai Phong Puppet Group, Ho Chi Minh City Puppet Group, Centre Puppet Theatre and Thang Long (Hanoi) Puppet Theatre. Most of professional puppet units as well as folkloric water-puppet bands permanently perform presentations in service of home peoples and play and participate to artistic Festivals around the world.
Marionette (puppet) is an art where marionettes (puppets) play on the stage while actors manipulating marionettes conceal themselves behind the stage. Marionettes (puppets) are made with wood or papier mache, bamboo-rattan or textile, including human statues, toy animals, puppets of small size, painted, drawn or with make-up or dress expressing personage’s personalities. Vietnamese breakdown puppetry into two forms: marionette (ry) and water-puppet (ry). Marionettes play on Stage erected on ground while water surface deems the stage of water-puppet. Vietnamese marionette existed for long, however up to now, water-puppet deems a lovely form of art, an original creation of Vietnamese.
The Stage of water-puppet means just the water surface where puppets play. Water surface looks like a mirror printed of surrounding sky and clouds and plants and herbages creating a vivid landscape before spectator's view. Water surface reflects puppets images making colors, acts and movements of puppets more lively and illusory. Water-puppet artists often play in dull, muddy water to hide and conceal their technical equipments, their know-how to create interesting puppet plays. Water-puppet stage lays in open. This is the water scope between the water pavilion (play-room) and spectator's rows, around 10-15m length. However, some other water-puppet bands play on a narrow area, from the pavilion bamboo-blind to the front honor-arch (known "soc son") with 2 low balconies on the two sides (0.30m). For water-puppet stage, this bamboo-blind deems the rear scenery backdrop. Now most of water-puppet bands in localities play on natural pond water surface. In cities, professional puppet groups, theatres organize performance in play-house/theatre where the stage consists of an artificial water pool with fixedly mounted modern audio and lighting systems. For water-puppet art, besides the stage, a play-pavilion is a must. The play-pavilion - also known puppet-house or water pavilion is where artists handle the puppets and puppets are prepared for play-game. A water-pavilion is erected in a pond, near communal-house, pagoda, temple or shrine... of 8-roof design and curved rims. Most of water-puppet bands have their fixed water-pavilions, empty in ordinary time and covered with bamboo-blind when presentation takes place. Front blind of the play-pavilion is just the stage rear backdrop, separating it with the water stage. Puppets when playing on stage cross under this blind by actors to the stage. Recently, as demanded by exchange-performance elsewhere in the country and abroad, much of water-puppet bands design a mobile play-pavilion with light and tidy materials for convenient transport. Besides play-pavilion in the theatre, professional water-puppet groups and theatres bring along their mobile play-pavilion in performance-tours in abroad. However there are limitations as play games require larger water surface.
Puppets form an important part of water-puppet art. They are a kind of special "actors". Not only they may not express feelings but their actions when playing seem to be simple, slowly evaluating. Artists in the band/group fabricate themselves puppets or hire them. Fabrication includes three processes: carving on wood (carpentry), painting and gilding, forging a device and assembling. Men within the band or group shall take charge of assembly process to keep secret the know-how, the originality of their local and special play.
Each puppet includes body part and stand part. Body rises over water surface, represents personage which viewers see on water surface and keeps puppet floating. Handling device is mounted on the stand part, and comprises two types: Perch device and wire device - and each band has its different design, hence its control method. From this, the differences in a same play express different styles of performance of bands. However, know-how secrecy also impacts on water-puppet art development: handling devices may not be improved, play items not developed and largely multiplied and even some traditional highlights are threatened for a lost. On the contrary, in modern science and technique development, some are intended to exploit modern technique and materials for plastic art, "enhance" handling device, attempting to abandon ancestors' traditional technique and materials!
Water-puppet art learning is done through profession communicating instead of training course. Artist veterans stand in the play-pavilion, their bodies dipped in water, by hands drawn, flick, pull, make to and fro the bamboo-perches and handling devices and control puppets movements on water surface beyond the bamboo-blind. Artists often say "accompaniment", "answer" words, while introductory remarks, dialogues or songs are secured by some others sit in the play-pavillon. Water-puppet art only focus on external performance as in variety show. Woman-artists miss in water-puppet bands: peoples fear that women may get married with men of other villages and disclose the know-how. Water-puppet artists often gather themselves in units by village or commune. Rites of acceptance of a membership to a band sounded rigorous and the number may be crowded to hundreds. Now, each water puppet band counts some dozens. Most of folkloric water-puppet bands and professional water-puppet groups may be supported by State and local authorities. Most of folkloric water-puppet bands were concentrated in Red River Delta, hence, water-puppet artists now are virtually farmers.
A water-puppet performance program includes mainly comedy-events, but few tale or narrative stories. Most of plays reflect truly life and men in home village: jobs in the ordinary course, amusements and entertainments, historic legends or events... such as, weaving on a loom, husking, pounding rice, shoveling, harrowing, fishing, fish-catching with a basket, drawing net, throwing net, rocking, breeding ducks, buffalo fight, wrestling, sword-crossing, lion dance, palanquin cortege, phoenix dance, four supernatural creatures dance, fairy dance... Some "cheo" or traditional operas excerpts also are introduced to water-puppet performance. However, the latter remain in primary stage and story words surpass puppet-expressing aptitude. It may be said that through thousand years of shaping and development, water-puppet art left thousands of personages. Water-puppet personage personality is mainly expressed by puppet plastic appearance created by artists and some of their personage arts. This is the main reason why there are not complete plays or story-performance shows. While focusing on creation of single plays, literature element in water-puppet dance also proves to be simple, even personage’s dialogues consist of extemporizations without literature scenario. Just for this, Vietnam folkloric water-puppet art possess enough particular and original features, which mean spontaneity, fun, singularity that miss in any scholar or modern art.
Water-puppet music
This constitutes a part not to be short of in water-puppet performance. This not only links between stage sceneries items, makes continuously attractive the performance program ambiance, but, with musical rhythm, artists may handle puppets times cadencely, times slowly, times vividly, violently.
National musical instruments used in water-puppet art create play ambiance and keep on performance rhythm. They include drums (large drum, small drum, tocsin, cymbals. Recently, water-puppet plays in concert with national orchestra and Red River plains folk melodies and "cheo".
Orchestra in water-puppet play is "Cheo" orchestra, a traditional and specific art of North Vietnam Plains. Besides musicians there are "cheo" singers. Songs, dialogue words coordinated with puppets acts lead viewers to story allusions and legends rich of humanism, customs and ritual festivals imbued of Red River Delta national colors.
Main musical instruments in water-puppet performance include flute, percussion set, sixteen stringed-zither or thirty-six stringed-zither, monochord. In abroad presentations, kinds of firecrackers such as squib, fireworks, fire-thread, self-igniting firecrackers are used to create vivid ambiance and shimmering and mystic colors to the play.
Thang Long Puppet Theatre (Hanoi), one among professional puppet art units, was founded in 1969. With over thirty years of building and development, now, the theatre owns an enough sufficient material basis with 2 playgroups including 20 actors, 15 musicians and technicians. Targeting preservation and putting into play such a national artistic form, Thang Long Puppet Theatre may not only respond to home spectators and tourist guests but continuously participate to international artistic festivals in countries over world continents and won much of prizes. The Theatre selects among hundreds of traditional puppet plays the best ones to set up performance programs with harmonious arrangement, partly representing Vietnamese, Thang Long-Hanoian customs and habits, life, soul, aspirations and wills. Some typical plays and story-allusions such as "Little Teu, farmer's job, Sword Lake Story, Honored return home for thanks to Ancestors, Fairy Dance, Dragon Dance, Grazing and fluting, Inducing frog, A fox attraping a duck, Boat race, 4 super naturals-dance... For years, Thang Long Puppet Theatre step by step shifted to defined socialisation and was continuing to stand firm, exist and develop in market mechanism. For sure, Thang Long Puppet Theatre development shall go on the trend and development of countrywide professional puppet artistic units.
Water-puppet stage means a one where Viet people's sculptural, painting-gilding, architectural, painting, literatural, folkloric playing art may be enough generally and harmoniously presented. Vietnam pays attention to restore, conserve and put into play traditional puppet dance, especially folkloric water-puppet art, not only partly contributing to build an advanced and nationally colored culture but substantially contributing to the mankind cultural heritage.
Written by Hoang Tuan, Producer and Vice Director of Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre
Vietnamese
