Water Puppets

Our discussion of the Water puppets in class yesterday I found to be one of the most entertaining and interesting classes we have held so far.  Before this class period I had never witnessed a performance of this kind and I thoroughly enjoyed the videos, as I am sure many of my classmates did as well.

I found this form of puppetry to have many parallels with the Western genre of puppet performances that I am used to. Western puppetry is not seen as a highly regarded art form; it used to be performed in the streets for the general populace and was not a form of theater popular among the elite as it was considered too “low-brow”. Furthermore, puppetry was seen as a juvenile form of the theatre; just like the water puppets, it was popular among children. This view continues somewhat to this day; puppetry is still most commonly used in children’s productions in shows like Sesame Street and the Muppets. Whenever you do see puppetry used in more adult settings, such as the newly popular Broadway production of Avenue Q or the well-known ventriloquist act of comedian Jeff Dunham, the content is more comical than anything else. It is meant to inspire happiness in its observers through ridiculous antics so it can be used as a form of release from the struggles of everyday life.

The Vietnamese water puppets were used very similarly to these puppets. They were painted with bright colors to draw attention to them and their movements were overly extravagant. The play they put on was a story about everyday life, meant to appeal to its intended audience through its relatable content. I found it very interesting to watch, though I did not understand any of the words. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed ventriloquist acts and various forms of puppet theater and found this one no less entertaining. I think that the water element just added to the performance. The integration of it into the structure of the story was great as well. For instance, when the dragons sprayed water from their mouths, it was fun to watch and was perfect to represent the fire they would normally spew.