Water puppetry is now widely performed at theaters in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, in a pool of water 20 meters square with the water surface being the stage. During festival times at ancient villages in the North, water puppet is also performed on traditional ponds.

The art of performing water puppet show lies behind the scene where there are 8 puppeteers stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple façade, and control the intricate movement by long bamboo rods and string.

Together with eye-catching puppets made of wood and lacquered, water puppet shows are attractive thanks to meaningful stories hidden inside, as well as the secret technique of controlling puppet under the water without seeing anything.

Developed from the 11th century by villagers in the Red river area of Vietnam, water puppet reflects the real daily life of people, with casual stories from the kitchen to the fishing pond and paddy fields.

The content of a water puppet show reflect folktales stories about the very daily lives of ancient people, or fairy tales inherited from generation to generation with educational meaning or satire bad habits.

The video was filmed in Hanoi Vietnam on April 21.