VietNamNet Bridge – After years of drifting and an unhappy home life, Dinh Thi Thuy is now doing a job that she loves, away from the rice fields where she worked for years.

Walk on water: The Tuoi Than Tien (Fairy Age) Puppetry Club stages traditional water puppet performances in an outdoor theatre at the Century Hotel in the former royal capital of Hue.

As a member of the Tuoi Than Tien (Fairy Age) Puppetry Club in the former royal city of Hue, the young woman discovered her new livelihood almost by accident.

Hearing that the club was recruiting puppeteers one year ago, Thuy thought she would audition even though she was a novice.

Much to her delight, she was hired and received training, along with other impoverished men and women who were seeking a better life.

For six years, the group performed in a local school using hand marionettes only, and then moved to a grander stage a year ago, where they perform traditional Vietnamese water puppetry.

The outdoor theatre, one of only two in the country that are privately owned, is located within the premises of Hue’s Century Hotel near the Huong (Perfume) River.

Director Nguyen Phi Tuan, who has dedicated himself to the art of puppetry for 10 years, says he urged his local artist friends, who were also passionate about the art form, to help raise funds for the theatre.

More than VND1 billion (US$60,000) was eventually collected and the group was able to build the outdoor theatre, where nearly 85 per cent of the audience are tourists from France, Japan, Germany, Thailand and other countries.

Professional training

The 22 men and women hidden behind the stage’s partition are no less passionate about their craft than Tuan.

Hailing from poor villages in Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces or from Thua Thien-Hue’s districts, the group, now in their 20’s, knew nothing about puppetry when they were first hired.

But after two months of intensive training from professionals from Ha Noi-based Central Puppetry Theatre, they were eager to embark on a new career.

Like Thuy, club member Nguyen Van Thinh had no idea that he would eventually become a professional puppeteer.

Before joining the group, the orphaned 22-year-old had been scraping out a living doing odd jobs, including working as a mason and a haircutter.

Although Thinh and his colleagues earn only VND1.6 million ($94) a month, all of the have kept their artistic fires ablaze thanks to their appreciative audiences.

"Laughs and applause from the audience and requests to pose with us for photos have done much to warm our hearts, no matter how cold it is to dip ourselves in the water," says Bui Quang Nam, who joined the group after failing his college entrance exam.

The theatre has built up a repertoire of 19 shows, including the Dragon Dance, Fox Catches Ducks, and Fishing, and has created newly choreographed shows that integrate the sounds and colours of the former royal capital of Hue.

After only a year, though, the theatre will have to relocate because the land at Century Hotel will be used for urban renovation by the city.

Anh Nguyet, deputy chairwoman of the theatre, says they hope to survive by finding a new location and raising funds to help them cope with the rising costs of maintenance and overhead.

(Source: Viet Nam News)