Vietnamese puppetry seeks innovation.

Despite being considered a major tourist attraction, Vietnamese puppetry still faces many challenges in preservation and development, requiring efforts to find ways to both maintain its unique identity and keep pace with contemporary trends.

The stories often revolve around the working and productive lives of the people. (Photo: BICH THU)

Along with rapid urbanization, the performance spaces of many traditional water puppet troupes are gradually shrinking. People's Artist Nguyen Hoang Tuan, Chairman of the Hanoi Theatre Association, stated that in 1986, there were 27 puppet troupes in the entire northern region, but today only 14 remain. Many original stories and scripts have been lost, making restoration and preservation difficult. There is a severe shortage of researchers, theorists, and critics of theatre, creating a large gap in the knowledge base necessary for the long-term development of puppetry…

Based on the reality of the Dao Thuc puppet troupe (Thu Lam commune, Hanoi), Mr. Dang Minh Hung, the troupe's leader, expressed concern that although puppet training classes are held annually with city funding, young people are not enthusiastic about pursuing the profession after completing the courses. Furthermore, the limited remuneration for artisans and the infrequent performances make it difficult to retain them in the craft.

Vietnamese puppetry also faces the pressure of adapting to modern life, especially in the face of competition from many other forms of entertainment. The audience for puppetry today is mostly international visitors, with water puppetry being the most popular, as it is a unique form of folk theater found only in Vietnam. For domestic audiences, puppetry has not yet truly established its appeal, except for students and young children, through performance contracts with schools.

To ensure Vietnamese puppetry thrives in the contemporary world, experts suggest focusing on creating creative cultural spaces within traditional puppet troupes in local areas – places that have produced this heritage and where stories, performances, and traditions have been preserved and passed down through generations.

According to Dang Minh Hung, head of the Dao Thuc water puppet troupe, there needs to be more attention from higher levels in supporting investment in equipment and upgrading facilities; and policies to reward artisans who practice, preserve, and pass on the craft.

Many believe that the urgent solution is for local authorities to conduct a review to compile and preserve puppet shows in their areas, serving as a basis for research, teaching, and creation.

According to Meritorious Artist Le Van Ngo, former Director of the Thang Long Puppet Theatre, it is impossible to focus solely on preserving the 17 traditional puppet shows currently performed in city theatres, while hundreds of other folk puppet shows exist. Given the reality that many puppet troupes today cannot make their own puppets and must hire others, he proposed paying more attention to the art of puppet making; investing in building a "puppet conservation center" to preserve historical documents and images of ancient puppets, helping future generations understand the origins, standards, and traditions of the craft.

Bringing puppetry to schools is a sustainable solution to fostering interest and love for the art of puppetry among young people. Theaters and puppet troupes need to unleash their creative potential to vividly recreate the cultural and historical lessons that children learn on the puppet stage.

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People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui,

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Theatre Artists

Regarding the effort to attract audiences to puppet theater, People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, President of the Vietnam Association of Stage Artists, affirmed that bringing puppetry to schools is a sustainable solution to nurture the interest and love for puppet art among young people. Theaters and puppet troupes need to develop their creative abilities to vividly recreate the cultural and historical lessons that children learn on the puppet stage.

With its unique characteristics and ability to tell stories through images, Vietnamese puppetry has strong potential to participate in the cultural industry value chain. If properly invested in, Vietnamese puppetry could even become a distinctive cultural brand.

DAC LINH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/roi-viet-tim-huong-doi-moi-post950240.html