Unique puppet theater by the sea, first in Vietnam
Báo Thanh niên•21/05/2024
On the evening of May 19, the A Oi theater in Hoang Hon Town, Phu Quoc officially welcomed visitors, becoming the first puppet theater by the sea in Vietnam, contributing to spreading the quintessence of Vietnam's intangible cultural heritage closer to international tourists.
From now until June 19, the theater offers free tickets to Vietnamese puppet shows for visitors, with two daily shows at 6:30 p.m. - 6:50 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. - 8:20 p.m.
AOI Theater officially welcomes guests from the evening of May 19
The A Oi Theater (AOI Theater) is located in a prime location at the North Gate of Cau Hon, right on the beach and on the main axis connecting all the experiences of Hoang Hon Town. Right from the name A Oi, which is a lullaby of a mother or grandmother, the theater reminds visitors of a "fossil" in the cultural memory of the Vietnamese people. Carrying "Vietnamese - Italian DNA", the theater possesses a beauty that blends the traditional architecture of the Northern Vietnamese countryside and the Italian "quality" of Hoang Hon Town. If you go from the main gate to the stage, visitors can easily recognize the traditional features of the North through the shape of the communal house roof, the three-room house, decorative motifs such as fairies, farmers catching frogs... And when looking at the theater from the beach, visitors will see a space imbued with Italian culture through classic pastel colors, curved domes inspired by classic works such as the Roman arena - Colosseum.
Panoramic view of A Oi theater from above
In particular, when placed in the overall picture of the Sunset Town, the A Oi Theater is the perfect opposite of the Kiss of the Sea Theater - a space for international-class shows staged by the French. In that way, the theater space is like a unique highlight that brings the village into the city, placing tradition next to the excitement and modernity of the Sunset Town, surprisingly reasonable and poetic.
A Oi with a stage design imbued with Northern cultural colors, looking straight out to the sea
À Ơi Theatre is designed with a 700-seat auditorium, a water stage for water puppetry and a stage for a variety of other art forms such as dry puppetry, quan họ singing, musicals, etc. Observant visitors can recognize that the theater's landscape is inspired by the terraced fields of the North, which are also designed in the stepped model of Hoang Hon Town. Puppet shows at À Ơi Theatre are staged and performed by generations of elite artists and very young artists of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre - the largest puppetry art center in the country, considered the leading bird of the Vietnamese puppetry industry.
The performances are performed by talented artists of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre.
8 performances will take viewers into the endless flow of Vietnamese culture, where they can discover the beauty of festivals, the life of agricultural production, Vietnamese spiritual culture and beliefs, or the image of the conical hat metaphorically resembling the moonlight, the boat on the waves, to see a culture rich in identity, vibrant and rich.
Water puppet shows are performed gracefully and interestingly with unique and new scripts.
The show is a unique blend of traditional and contemporary features, creating something new, attractive, yet still close and familiar. Here, visitors can not only watch water puppetry, a traditional folk art form, but also other art and performance forms such as dry puppetry and dance.
Coming to A Oi, visitors can not only watch water puppetry but also other art forms and performances such as dry puppetry and folk dance.
The musical performance also introduces visitors to other theatrical arts such as Cheo singing and Chau Van singing. It is no coincidence that Hoang Hon Town was chosen as the next performance destination of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, of the passionate artists who have brought the Vietnamese intangible cultural heritage - Vietnamese puppetry to 70 countries and territories around the world.
Tourists excitedly watch the performance at A Oi Theater
People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung - Director of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre shared that he felt a sense of connection with Sun Group right from the first conversations. "I and the artists at the theatre find it really interesting to perform in Hoang Hon Town, a place that gathers many other art forms and has a large number of international tourists to introduce Vietnam's oldest and unique performing art - puppetry. We want to do this so that visitors of all nationalities and ages can learn more about the country and people of Vietnam. In particular, we Vietnamese can also see our ancestors there, understand more about the value of traditional cultural art, and be proud of ourselves with international friends," Mr. Dung emphasized. Charlotte, an Australian tourist, shared: "I was really surprised and impressed that right in Phu Quoc there is such an impressive puppet theater with such traditional Vietnamese culture. I have heard about water puppetry for a long time and I am so lucky to be able to watch the performance right in Phu Quoc."
On the evening of May 19, the theater welcomed hundreds of tourists to visit and watch the performance.
The first puppet theater by the sea in Vietnam - A Oi not only brings domestic and foreign tourists a complete experience in their journey to explore Hoang Hon Town, but also demonstrates the desire to honor and bring Vietnamese cultural values closer to the world.
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