Vietnamese Water Puppets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxIff980XyM
The link above is a video about Vietnamese Water Puppet show. Water puppetry is a form of folk arts originating in the Red River Delta in the north of Vietnam, dating back in the 11th century. Many town and villages in Vietnam have communal ponds that are perfect stages for these impromptu performances, enhancing the widespread development of the art form. Presently, water puppetry is showed in a pool of water with the water surface being the stage.

Puppets are made of wood and then lacquered to be watertight and endurable. During performances, puppets are controlled via a pole-and string apparatus hidden under the water surface by puppeteers standing in waist-deep water behind the stage.

The theme of the play concentrates on the daily life of rural people and folklores that are imparted from generation to generation, not mention to stories of legends and national history. Above all, water puppetry created a relaxing space for rural citizens in the past; both watching and playing water puppetry was a good way for the local to entertain, escaping from their daily worries and hardworking life.