-^-for posterity-^-

water puppets.

exactly what they sound like: puppets frolicking in the water. strange puppets with oddly wooden smirks on their pale faces dancing and splashing in the water. the puppets stand about 1.5 feet high and are from all different walks of life. there are waterbuffalo puppets, peasant puppets, king puppets, dragon puppets and, of course, the ubiquitous golden turtle (long life). tonight i had the pleasure of attending the thang long water puppet theater located on 57 dinh tien hang street in hanoi.

we entered the theater (me and some lutheran missionaries, long story, don't ask) and we were greeted by a large, murky pool. (the only time that americans sit in stadium seeting next to a large murky pool is at sea world) (i had my misconceptions) the band started to play in a very stoic fashion. the drummers were very serious and the beautiful women who played a variety of stringed instruments had concerned looks on their faces the whole time. no one seemed to be enjoying themselves. they appeared to be constantly solving some very intense logic problem. it was piercing and delicate. to be very culturally insensitive, the music sounded like i was at a chinese buffet. (how horrible!)

the puppets would appear and, to give a sense of the show, i will cite some of the movements from the program: catching frogs. on a buffalo with a flute. rearing ducks and catching foxes. triumphant return of a new graduate to his native village aim at expressing his gratitude to the ancestors. children playing in water. legend of the restored sword: king le loi after triumphing over invaders ming, gave the magic sword back to a giant turtle. fairy dancing. if you wish to use one video camera, please pay 50000 vnd (about 2.50usd).

i couldn't figure out why this was such an art form. sure, the puppets had to be engineered to look relatively lively in the water. sure, the music was wonderful and sure, there were some fireworks but what made this wonderful? why did people love it? i believe that it was just so culturally confusing that the foreign audience felt obligated to clap at all interludes. i wondered why the vietnamese liked it. i wondered what i could relate it to in my mennonite culture. i realized that there was nothing.

maybe i'm being too cynical. the puppets were wonderful. now, see, it doesn't even feel right to say! the puppets were interesting. now, i can honestly say that. they were interesting and confusing, delicate and piercing, ornate and simple. It, for me, is best described: "sea world meets confucianism".