Water Puppet Theatre in Saigon
Water puppet theatre is an ancient Vietnamese tradition. At first, puppet theater served as entertainment for the most ordinary people. The performances took place in villages where peasants gathered to watch folk plays. The themes of the performances were appropriate and reflected the lives of ordinary Vietnamese who worked in the fields or engaged in fishing: grazing, rice planting or harvesting, festivities. Of course, the plays include stories based on historical events and represent heroes of Vietnamese myths: wise tortoise, giant dragon and other magical creatures.
Why is Vietnamese puppet theater unique?
The main feature of the Vietnamese puppet theater is that the performances are held on the water. At first, lakes, ponds or flooded fields served as a stage for performances. Today, you can see puppet shows in big cities in real theaters, as this art form has become part of Vietnamese culture. Puppet theater in Saigon «Golden Dragon Water Puppet» is a place worth visiting for all those who are interested in the culture of the country. The performance is in Vietnamese, however, foreigners can understand meaning of the plays in general. Puppet Theatre is very popular, the auditorium is never empty. The Vietnamese puppet theater has no analogues, so many tourists from different countries come to see the performance. The Vietnamese from Saigon and other provinces also like visiting the theatre.
The orchestra of traditional instruments such as drums, flutes, wooden bells provides musical accompaniment to the performance. The actors are doing a hard job making the puppets come to life. During the performance, they are waist-deep in water and control the puppets with long sticks made of bamboo. The weight of one puppets can reach fifteen kilograms. They’re maid from fig tree, painted and varnished, all by hand. Unfortunately, skillfully made puppets quickly deteriorate, because they constantly stay in the water, so the production process of theatrical characters never stops. The pyrotechnics are also of a great interest to the viewer. For example, the dragons involved in the plays, are really fire-breathing, as they spew flames.
The performance in the puppet theater is suitable for people of all ages. Plays take place in the evening. The cost of tickets starts from 6 dollars. As we said above, many people want to visit the show. Therefore, it is better to take care of buying tickets in advance.
There are many other interesting attractions in Saigon. This city is perfect for those who want to plunge into the Asian flavor and for those who want to get acquainted with the history and culture of Vietnam. Our company offers interesting sightseeing tours of the city, as well as a visit to the Ku Chi tunnels, that were a real salvation for the Vietnamese guerrillas during the war with the Americans.
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