Vietnamese water puppetry leaves a strong impression on Russian audiences

At the invitation of the Organizing Committee of the 16th Chekhov International Theatre Festival, from June 2 to 18, the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre troupe of 18 members, led by the Theatre Director, Meritorious Artist Tran Thanh Hien, performed traditional folk music and water puppetry in Moscow and Voronezh.

According to VNA correspondent in Russia, the performances of Thang Long Puppetry Theatre are mainly taken from legends and folk tales in the history of the Vietnamese people such as Uncle Teu, Dragon dance, buffalo herding and flute playing, swimming, boat racing, the legend of Le Loi returning the magic sword, phoenix dance, lion dance, Bat Tien dance, Tu Linh dance...

Russian audiences did not miss the opportunity to witness the unique Vietnamese cultural performances, after a period of interruption of exchange activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The auditorium was packed with audiences at every performance. Each performance of the troupe received endless applause, forcing the artists, instead of greeting the audience once, to appear again and again to wave to the audience.

In Voronezh, the performances of the artists of Thang Long Puppetry Theater left a deep impression, not only in the hearts of Russian audiences, but also in the Vietnamese community here, including the second and third generation children of Vietnamese people in Voronezh.

Sharing with VNA reporters, Ms. Lyudmila, a Moscow resident, said that this was the first time she had seen such an impressive performance. She said: "It was really interesting, the colors were very vibrant. I really liked the artists playing music and performing underwater puppets. I was very interested in listening to the artists perform and of course this was a great, very special show."

Meritorious Water Puppetry Artist Bach Quoc Khanh confided: "The audience's reaction was very enthusiastic and they felt that traditional Vietnamese art, especially water puppetry, is very magical and very unique". According to the artist, "the most impressive thing is that the Russian audience is very enthusiastic, loves art, especially traditional art". He recalled that during the first performances of traditional Vietnamese music, the outdoor stage was at times as cold as 6 degrees Celsius, but the audience still stood in the rain, holding umbrellas to watch. The artist shared: "After the performance, they shared a lot with the artists. They gave flowers, gifts and asked a lot about the weather, about life, about the Vietnamese people".

For his part, the Head of the troupe, Meritorious Artist Tran Thanh Hien, Director of the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre, said that this was the third time the troupe had performed in Russia. Due to the limited number of troupe members, the artists "had to work 200%" compared to in Vietnam. However, this was motivated by the enthusiastic response of the beautiful Russian audience. This was the greatest motivation, encouraging the artists to "perform their best to serve the Russian audience".

(According to VNA)

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