Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre

Had a lovely evening out last night with some old friends who happen to be visiting.  We took the 4 children to see the very traditional water puppets.  The theatre is on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and it cost approximately $50 for all eight of us.  The tradition of the puppets can be traced all the way back to the 11th century.  The show takes place over a stage that is waist deep water and the puppets are controlled from below.  It is a closely guarded secret as to how it all works and I am none the wiser after seeing the performance. Musicians on either side of the pool provide the music and sound effects with traditional instruments.  The shows have not changed much over the years.  They are performed totally in Vietnamese and the themes are typically deeply rooted in rural traditions such as planting and harvesting crops, fishing and folklore.

The Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre is located at 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in District 1, just east of Tao Dan Park.  Enter the big sports compex and turn right. 

Slightly larger than the real thing!  Mind you, the real ones are much smaller but weigh up to 30 pounds.

Yes, it's air-conditioned!  Seats sell from front to back and we were lucky enough to be in row 2.

The boys are a bit excited.

Scarlett typically a little less so.

Part of the joy is hearing the beautiful live music and singing on the traditional instruments.

Apparently the tradition started in flooded rice paddies.  At least there are no leech issues these days.

It is the wet season after all.

The kids really enjoyed it. (The adults too!)

The very talented , and strong, puppeteers!