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Splashdance
Saigon Water Puppets are on the way
BY SALLY CRAGIN

A 16-foot pagoda stands behind a vast pool of water. Lights play across the liquid surface, and eerie stringed music begins. Ducks swim into view. Nearby, a farmer and his wife tend to their crop of rice and their flock. A fox appears in a tree, intent on capturing a duckling. Who will prevail — the humans or the predator? What will be the cost of the conflict?

That’s just one of the narratives to be presented by the Saigon Water Puppets at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Cyclorama June 26 through 29. Founded in 1977 and billed as "one of Vietnam’s national treasures," this 17-member troupe, which includes both puppeteers and musicians, will be making its Boston-area debut. In the unique art, the puppeteers are concealed so that "you just see the surface of this blue water and the puppet moving above it," explains Avril Helbig, director of Vertical Music, a Toronto-based arts organization that books a worldwide array of exotic acts.

Puppets and water have a long history in Vietnam. "There’s a stone tablet near Hanoi that mentions water puppetry that dates from around 1100," Helbig says. "I’ve heard a couple of stories on how water puppets developed. First, Vietnam is a country dominated by water. It’s completely coastal on the east side, and the south and north part have river deltas that flood on a regular basis, so aquaculture is an important part of life in Vietnam, especially rice fishing."

Helbig adds that another story about water-puppet origins connects the art to the annual flood during harvest season. According to that theory, the flood left the native inhabitants with little to do, "so they would have annual festivals and amuse themselves by doing puppets in water," she says. "Originally, in Vietnam, this would have been just any available water."

The Water Puppets range from tiny to three feet tall and are carved of wood. "Each one takes three months to make because they’re painted and lacquered several times," Helbig explains. Unlike Balinese shadow puppets or other mannequins from the Far East, the Vietnamese models have just one bamboo rod for a puppeteer to manipulate. "These puppets have articulated parts and movement," explains Helbig. "In the past, the technique of water puppetry was kept very secretive because people would compete in regional contests. If they found a good way of doing something, they’d keep it to themselves."

Saigon Water Puppets is a full-scale production in which music and vocal accompaniment are as important as the puppet show. Among the instruments are a 16-string zither, a two-string traditional fiddle, and something called a danbau. "It’s highly percussive music, which sets the tempo for the puppetry," says Helbig. "The music is performed on traditional instruments unique to Vietnam. The danbau is a one-stringed instrument that sounds like a cross between a steel guitar and a theremin, so there’s a vocal quality to the sound. They bend the one string attached to a water buffalo horn so it’s like a whammy bar on a guitar — the instrument has a plaintive sound that’s very wistful and typically Vietnamese."

Usually the Water Puppets have to perform outdoors during the daytime, but Helbig is looking forward to using the Cyclorama. "We have 7500 gallons of water in the tank, so finding a perfect performing situation is hard because the audience needs to be close up," she says. Using stage lights to illuminate the pagoda, pool, and puppets ensures that "the water makes ambient patterns so the whole thing looks really beautiful."

World Music presents Saigon Water Puppets at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, June 26 through 29. Tickets are $15 for morning and afternoon shows and $20 for evening shows; call (617) 876-4275.

 

Issue Date: June 20 - 26, 2003

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