Soaking in water all day, puppeteer falls down, in pain, crawling down stairs

(Dan Tri) - Puppeteers, also known as "dark knights", often wade through water, wearing rubber suits weighing 4-5kg on stage with the lights off. They have hasty meals, suffer from bone and joint diseases, and encounter many occupational accidents.

Puppetry exists in many countries around the world, but water puppetry is unique to Vietnam. Water puppetry originated from the rice civilization and is a unique creation of the Vietnamese people when the artists control string puppets underwater. With skillful movements, the artists control the water puppets according to their stories. Many foreign visitors to Vietnam insist on seeing water puppetry to satisfy their curiosity. There was a time when the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre was always red-lighted with shows 365 days a year with more than 1,000 performances. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of shows decreased. According to statistics, in the first 6 months of the year, the Theatre had about 800 shows in Hanoi and the provinces. To better understand the work of puppeteers, a group of Dan Tri reporters followed them to "witness" the lives of these "dark knights".

At 3 p.m., we arrived at the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre on Truong Chinh Street, Hanoi - where actress Pham Ha My (born in 1990, on the right) and her colleagues were practicing to prepare for the Film and Tourism Promotion Program organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the US on September 21. Ha My used to be a dancer, but her dancing career was short-lived, so she went to study at the National Economics University and worked as an administrator at another theatre. Because she missed her acting career, when she learned that the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre was recruiting, she applied to return to perform dance and learn more about water puppetry. After a period of training, Ha My was able to perform water puppetry and she felt lucky to be working at the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre.

Ha My revealed that her basic salary is nearly 6 million VND/month, for each performance, she and her colleagues receive a fee of 3-400,000 VND/show. The female artist said that if they work hard, puppeteers can still make a living from their profession. Ha My honestly said that she is so busy that she doesn't have time to work extra. Recently, the theater has implemented programs related to the Mid-Autumn Festival, at the end of the year, there are programs to report to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and then go to perform abroad. In parallel, there are puppetry projects in Phu Quoc, Da Nang and performances at Luc Thuy Restaurant (Hang Trong, Hanoi)... so the artists are assigned to perform everywhere.

The characteristic of water puppet artists is to control puppets deep in water. There are days when Ha My and her colleagues spend 10-12 hours underwater (including practice and performance time). When going into the water, the puppeteers have to wear a rubber suit weighing 3-5kg. On sunny days of 38-39 degrees, they still have to wear it to perform, even though they are underwater, sweat pours out like they are taking a shower. When going into the water, the rubber suit often sticks to the body, making it more difficult to move. In winter, when the temperature drops to 10-12 degrees, they still perform, many days the artists have to wear 2 pairs of woolen pants, use heat patches but still... shiver with cold.

Ha My shared that on many days when the water level was high, the performers did not pay attention and water seeped into their rubber suits, making them completely wet, but they still had to finish performing before changing their costumes. Soaking in water regardless of hot or cold weather, water puppet artists always have to face problems with their bones and joints. Many people get sick, have chronic back pain... But because of their passion for the profession, they try to overcome difficulties.

At 5:30 p.m., Ha My left the theater to go home. She said that she was living with her parents, so on days when she came home early from work, she would cook. But there were times when she went on a business trip for 3 months and asked her parents to help with the housework. At 6 p.m., Ha My returned home and started cooking dinner. Ha My's house is located in an apartment building on Khuat Duy Tien Street (Hanoi). She said that she was quite lucky because the distance from her home to her office was quite close, so on days when there were many shows, she could take the opportunity to go home to eat with her parents and then go to the theater to perform.

Today, Ha My's dinner was simple and quick because at 8pm she had a performance with her colleagues at the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre. Mr. Pham Hung (born in 1959) and Mrs. Thanh Thuy (born in 1969) are Ha My's parents. They said they always respect their daughter's decisions. When Ha My turned to becoming a puppeteer, although they were worried, they always encouraged her.

Ha My took the time to put on makeup to prepare to go to the theater to perform with her colleagues. She said that puppeteers have also encountered many incidents such as when they just went on stage, the puppet broke, slipped off the pole... There was an artist who stepped onto the stage from outside, put his feet in the water, got wet and bruised but still tried to perform the whole show.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter before the performance, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung - Director of Vietnam Puppetry Theater - said that he has been in the profession for 33 years. According to him, puppetry is a special profession, so the environment and the specific performance method make it very difficult for the artists. "Puppet artists, because of being in water for a long time, all suffer from bone and joint diseases. In winter, there are movements that cannot be performed with gloves, so they have to use their bare hands to control the puppets to match the music and movements... When performing dry puppetry, the artists have to kneel for many hours, have to raise their hands for a long time to control the puppets, so they are very tired. They have quick meals, eating hastily, which is very pitiful and touching to see", People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung confided.

At 7:40 p.m., Ha My is at the Vietnam Puppetry Theater again. Today she and her colleagues have a performance at the Thuy Dinh stage.

Meritorious Artist Do Thi Kha (born in 1970, far right) has been working as a puppeteer since 1993. During her 31 years of being immersed in water, she has always maintained her love for artistic puppets. "Honestly, there was a time when I applied to another unit and was accepted, but I thought, if they can survive, why can't I? That's why I stayed and loved the profession even more," Meritorious Artist Do Thi Kha confided. Inside the stage, she and other artists wore rubber clothes, soaked in water, and used poles to control the puppets according to their movements. The more the puppets were immersed in water, the heavier they became, so the actors also had to be strong to control the puppets. According to People's Artist Tien Dung, there was a time when he was performing water puppetry, he had aching pain from the top of his head down to his arms because of muscle pain and spinal spurs. The next morning, when he went to the theater, the pain was so great that he had to crawl, but when he got on stage, he forgot everything and performed enthusiastically.

At 10pm, the show ends. The artists come out on stage to greet the audience. On mobile stages like those abroad or in the provinces, puppeteers have to stay behind to clean the water tanks and props, so sometimes they only get to rest at 3am, but they are still passionate and love their job.

Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/ca-ngay-ngam-duoi-nuoc-nghe-si-mua-roi-nga-tim-nguoi-dau-bo-cau-thang-20240920021644600.htm