A Oi Theater at Sunset Town, Phu Quoc is a theater puppetry The first beachfront show in Vietnam and each show attracts thousands of domestic and international audiences. Behind this special project are many touching stories.
On the 6th day of Tet 2024, the artist team Vietnam Puppetry Theatre performed in Hoang Hon town with a mobile stage. Thousands of spectators were amazed and moved by the beauty of the quintessence of water puppetry.
A business has expressed its intention to invest in placing water puppetry in a luxury tourist area so that visitors can enjoy water puppetry with a completely different experience than at water pavilions or theaters on the mainland.
At that time, the artists all felt confused, even confused. They were too familiar with water puppetry in a familiar space, almost by default it was impossible to do otherwise. But they also wanted to change, find opportunities to keep the profession, to live with the profession.
At that time, the artists of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre were still performing tirelessly on the mobile stage. The admiration and delight of tourists, especially foreign tourists and children... further motivated them to be so engrossed that they forgot to eat and sleep. The company decided to invest in building a permanent stage, but the artists could not know when it would be finished.
Four months later, the troupe was surprised to receive the announcement: Change of stage. Everyone was overwhelmed with emotion when admiring the water pavilion appearing shimmeringly on the shore. The structure was as beautiful as a blooming lotus, as familiar as the roof of a Vietnamese village communal house, spreading nostalgia on a distant island.
The feeling was both familiar and strange, both joyful and tearful. The artists looked at each other with emotional eyes, promising to do their best to bring the quintessence of water puppetry far and wide, as they had long desired.
A Oi Theater is not only a place for water puppetry performances, but also a symbol of the spirit and desire to preserve and promote national cultural values, opening a new journey in the process of change and integration.
Water puppetry, a long-standing Vietnamese folk art form, is expressed through each play with its own identity and liveliness. However, behind those colorful performances is a long story about the lives and passion of people who stay up late and wake up early, soaking themselves in the water all day to bring laughter and emotional moments to the audience.
From the stage, one can see the vast ocean. The artists immersed themselves in practice, immersing themselves in each character, laughing and crying with them. It seemed that there were many moments when the boundaries between reality and fantasy, between humans and puppets... were erased.
Every figure, identity, movement... recreated on stage originates from and is distilled from the beauty of human life. Joyful folk festivals, the hardships of labor, and peaceful moonlit nights in the countryside... All of this beauty is told through the language of puppetry, both mysterious and simple, both familiar and profound.
Water puppetry is not a simple art form. To perform perfect performances, artists must stand in the water for a long time, patiently controlling the characters. Each puppet in the artist’s hands is like a part of them, in harmony with gestures, movements, sounds, and dialogue. It is in each of those movements that they find their passion and love for art.
People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung, Director of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, was moved to share about the collective nature of puppetry. A main role sometimes requires three or four people. Puppetry has main and supporting roles, but it is very difficult to distinguish and evaluate the main and supporting actors. When one person finishes his role, he still has to support another.
The water puppetry environment requires artists to overcome normal life, including anger and resentment, so that it does not affect their work, so that when they are on the same stage, they breathe together.
As the theater director, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung not only shouldered the responsibility but also worked as a true artist. He took advantage of the weekends to stage plays. Before each performance, he immersed himself in the water to guide and practice for the artists.
Only by interacting and chatting can one understand the silent sacrifices of artists. Their profession requires them not only in terms of talent and technique but also in terms of perseverance, endurance and unceasing passion.
"Living with the water, breathing with the characters, from there we can create life for the play. It is not an easy job, but in front of the majestic and poetic water pavilion, seeing the audience laugh and clap, we feel our efforts are rewarded," the artists could not hold back their tears.
A Oi Theater has a 700-seat auditorium as a meaningful gift for all those who love traditional arts, so that we never forget the priceless values of Vietnamese culture. It is also an opportunity for international visitors to learn more about the country and people of Vietnam through the traditional language of water puppetry.
Source: https://baolangson.vn/ve-dep-cong-hien-o-nha-hat-mua-roi-dau-tien-ben-bien-5039159.html
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