Garima Dahiya
Mahindra United World College of India
Theatre Research Investigation
“What are the construction and characterization techniques through which the puppet character of Chủ Tếu is portrayed for a Mua Rồi Nước performance in the scene Avoid Stealing Antique Objects”
Word Count: 1009 words

Contents | | Title Page | Page 1 | Contents | Page 2 | Subject Essay | Page 3-5 | Bibliography | Page 6 | Critique of Sources | Page 7-12 |

Mua Rồi Nước literally translates to “water puppet dance”. The origins of traditional water puppetry are contested; the earliest reference to Water Puppetry in Vietnam was found at two inscriptions at the Long Doi Son Pagoda that describe the popular tale of The Legend of the Restored Sword. Traditional performances contained twenty to thirty scenes from a possible repertoire of one hundred and thirty four. Performances today are shorter (Foley, 2001, p. 136). As the name implies, the theatre performance is executed through puppets on a water body. The appearance and movements of the puppets are crucial to the execution of a character though puppets, hence it is vital to investigate the appearance of puppet characters when studying this theatre tradition. Secrets of the meticulous puppetry and designing techniques of Mua Rồi Nước were fiercely guarded by a small set of villagers who knew these skills. It was only in 1983 that villagers began teaching other troupes about these secrets upon persuasion from the Government. (Phillips, 1999) This essay will address the question “What are the construction and characterization techniques through which the puppet character of Chủ Tếu is portrayed for a Mua Rồi Nước performance in the scene Avoid Stealing Antique Objects”. This research will first explore the general aspects of Mua Rồi Nước and then steer focus to the appearance and execution of Chủ Tếu in the said scene.
All Mua Rồi Nước performances share a significant number of characteristics. Initially, water bodies were traditional ponds or rice paddy fields in villages where a staging area has been constructed. 20th Century Mua Rồi Nước has specialized buildings with constructed pool stages, even a portable tank for travelling performances. (Foley, 2001, p. 130) Around eight-ten trained puppeteers stand behind a bamboo scrim controlling the brightly painted puppets. The slits in the scrim enable the puppeteers to make sure the puppet choreography is executed properly. It is interesting to observe how the water is kept dark and cloudy to conceal the puppetry techniques and deceive the audience into believing that the puppets are moving themselves. The stage has two doorways on each side- “the door of life” and the “door of death” from which puppets enter and exit respectively (Gaboriault, 2009). Each scene tells a different story, however eventually some if not all scenes connect with each other by a common theme (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 31). All Mua Rồi Nước scenes are based on Vietnamese folk tales that contain one or more morals and values. The scene Avoid Stealing Antique Objects is based on the folk tale The Toad Sues Heaven. “In this scene, village members are gathering near the water to clean Buddha’s statue, however, under the cover of darkness, a thief steals Bodhisattva Kwan Yin’s statue. Chủ Tếu and a group of animals search for the statue to no avail. Pleading for help, the toad asks the kitchen God to tell the Jade Emperor what has happened. The Emperor sends a fairy with a magical telescope and statue is retrieved.” (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 40). The puppet Chủ Tếu appears universally throughout almost all performances. He is seen as a kind of comic master of ceremonies, commenting on stories, on corruption and rejoicing with the couples in love stories. (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 33)

Fig1: A Mua Rồi Nước stage of the Thang Long troupe Since, puppets are such important elements to a Mua Rồi Nước performance, a great deal of attention is paid to their construction and characterization. The wooden puppets are carved in a sophisticated way of polishing and decorating. They are decorated with different colors in order to enhance the beauty and personality for each character (My). The puppets are usually chiseled out of fig trees that are abundantly found in Vietnam, and have a perforated core. Additionally, they are coated with resin to make them waterproof. The only moveable parts are the head and arms that are attached to strings. The manner in which puppets are controlled depends on the size and complexity of the puppet. Small, simple puppets are fastened to bamboo poles that are then controlled from behind the bamboo scrim by puppeteers. The length of the bamboo poles varies with the dimensions of the pool. Bigger puppets also incorporate circular wooden disks as floatation bases. Furthermore, highly complex characters such as the dragon use an amalgam of poles, floatation bases and strings (Gaboriault, 2009, pp. 27-28).

Fig2: Puppets in a Mua Rồi Nước performance Fig3: A dragon puppet

This brings us to Chủ Tếu, a character that is most common and considered the most versatile and entertaining in Mua Rồi Nước performances. The character of Chủ Tếu is used as an “attention grasper” at the beginning of the play. Chủ Tếu’s character is a variant creation of a Pan-Southeast Asian god-clown. He is crafted as a fat puppet and his hair is painted as unkempt. Some authors describe him as having two-childish pony tails as well (Foley, 2001). He is made to wear a loincloth that exposes his fat belly. This makes him look immature and unworthy of his title. His face, however, is painted a rosy complexion, which shows him cheerful. This combined with crude looks and humor, makes Chủ Tếu an important asset to every performance. The execution of Chủ Tếu’s character make his audiences enjoy him- he flails his arms around and taunts them, all of which is a refreshing diversion from the serious tone of the performance (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 33).

Fig4: A Chủ Tếu puppet

In conclusion, a truly successful Mua Rồi Nước performance would take into account the complexity of construction and characterisation of each puppet in each scene along with an appropriate design of the stage and in the case of Mua Rồi Nước since the 20th century, the lighting and sounds. The sculpting, costumes, the colours of the costumes and the way puppets are painted are vital to best portray the characters through wooden sculptures. It is also necessary to acknowledge that puppeteers undertake years of rigorous training for this art form (Phillips, 1999). Even today there is not much literature on Mua Rồi Nước since it was kept secret by its fore fathers. This makes it a worthwhile topic to do further research into. “Regarding a puppet show he saw King Trần Thái Tông wrote: “Everybody sees clearly that wooden puppets rely on mechanical means and use strings to create movements. They are able to move and dance as living creatures. They would come to a standstill if the strings were to be dropped” (Vietnamese Theater 57). Although people understand the puppets do not move on their own, this fact is often overlooked and forgotten once a masterful puppeteer begins his manipulation.” (Gaboriault, 2009)

Bibliography

Published Sources: 1. Foley, K. (2001). The Metonymy of Art: Vietnamese Water Puppetry As a Representation of Modern Vietnam. MIT Press. 2. Gaboriault, D. (2009, January 4). Vietnamese Water Puppet Theatre: A Look through The Ages. Honors Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Western Kentucky University.
Online Sources: 3. Company, T. K. (n.d.). Múa rối nước. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from Lich Su Vietnam: http://www.lichsuvietnam.vn/home.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=929&Itemid=65 4. My, T. (n.d.). Rối nước – loại hình nghệ thuật độc đáo của Việt Nam. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from SIU Review: http://review.siu.edu.vn/san-khau-dien-anh/roi-nuoc-loai-hinh-nghe-thuat-doc-dao-o-viet-nam/334/422?page=2 5. Phillips, R. (1999, February 5). A unique form of art". Retrieved March 5, 2014, from https://www.wsws.org: https://www.wsws.org

Critique of Sources

Published Sources 1. Foley, K. (2001). The Metonymy of Art: Vietnamese Water Puppetry As a Representation of Modern Vietnam. MIT Press.
“The Metonymy of Art: Vietnamese Water Puppetry As A Representation of Modern Vietnam” is one of main sources for this investigation as it itself was a detailed study of Water Puppetry in Vietnam. This article provided with useful information on the history and conventions of Vietnamese water puppetry that helped me put my research into context. Kathy Foley is Chairperson and Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She serves as Southeast Asia editor of Asian Theatre Journal. Her exhibit on puppets of South and Southeast Asia was shown at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta and the East West Center in Hawaii (2ooo). Her writing on Southeast Asian theatre can be found in the Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre edited by James Brandon (Cambridge University Press, 1993). It is obvious from Foley’s qualifications stated that she would a credible source of information that can provide with in-depth insight of Mua Rồi Nước. Even though this research was a valuable reference, it could not provide material as detailed about puppet crafting and characterisation as it did about the history and current status of the art form.

2. Gaboriault, D. (2009, January 4). Vietnamese Water Puppet Theatre: A Look through The Ages. Honors Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Western Kentucky University.

This source is a senior thesis by Derek Gaboriault for Western Kentucky University and was another main source of information for my research. This thesis was a historical catalog for water puppetry across Asian cultures, out of which I used Chapter 4 and 5 which focused on Mua Rồi Nước. A lot of information in this article overlapped with that in Foley’s article, however there were bits and pieces of information that Foley had not included (or didn’t feel necessary to include) that I used. Gaboriault has carried out extensive researches on Vietnamese water puppetry, including visiting Vietnam and watching water puppetry performances himself for his thesis. This is a university level thesis which has been approved by senior professors and hence makes for a credible source. He has incorporated both primary and secondary data in this research. The only possible glitch in this source could be that since he has used a lot of data from personal experience, his might have written his thesis from a perspective of 21st century Vietnamese puppetry and less from one of traditional one.

3. Company, T. K. (n.d.). Múa rối nước. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from Lich Su Vietnam: http://www.lichsuvietnam.vn/home.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=929&Itemid=65 This source has not contributed to my essay as much as the two above have. Lich Su Vietnam is a local Vietnamese review website that has resources on Vietnamese history. The website is sponsored by the National University HCMC Central Library, HCM City Department of Culture and Information, Ministry of Information and Communication Licensing Organization. The source was taken because local sources, especially on topics of their country, tend to be reliable. However, on the other hand, they can be biased. E.g. the source has not presented the fact that Mua Rồi Nước has contested origins; it simply states the fact that Mua Rồi Nước originated in Northern Vietnam. It is also necessary to keep in mind that the source was originally in Vietnamese and I have used Google Translate to use it or my essay. Thus, some essence of the content of the article could have gotten lost in translation.

4. My, T. (n.d.). Rối nước – loại hình nghệ thuật độc đáo của Việt Nam. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from SIU Review: http://review.siu.edu.vn/san-khau-dien-anh/roi-nuoc-loai-hinh-nghe-thuat-doc-dao-o-viet-nam/334/422?page=2
This source is similar to my source above. It is local Vietnamese review website and hence holds the same disadvantages and advantages that the above source does. This source again was initially in Vietnamese and has been translated by Google Translate for use for this essay. I took translation help from a native Vietnamese speaker to translate the third paragraph of this essay since the translation from Google Translate was not comprehensive.

5. Phillips, R. (1999, February 5). A unique form of art". Retrieved March 5, 2014, from https://www.wsws.org: https://www.wsws.org
This source is an interview of Le Van Ngo, the artistic director of Vietnam’s Thang Long Water Troupe of Hanoi from the World Socialist Web Site that writes about Economy, History, Science etc. It is published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The source was chosen because information from someone who is directly involved in Vietnam’s water puppetry industry is valuable and credible. I have used this source to study personal experiences of Ngo, who has grown up with water puppetry in Vietnam. The source, however, is from the year 1999 and could be outdated. I personally did not conduct the interview, hence there could be information that the interviewer missed out or did not feel necessary to include which could have been used for my research.

Image Sources: 1. Fig1: http://vnteg.com/where-to-go/thang-long-water-puppet-theatre.html This image of a Thang long puppetry stage has been taken from the Vietnamese tourism website, VNTEG.com. The website has sources about Cuisine and Entertainment in Vietnam as well. Since Mua Rồi Nước is such an integral part of Vietnamese culture, local Vietnamese websites enable me to see Mua Rồi Nước in the best possible light, especially in pictures. These pictures however, are vey recent and over the years Mua Rồi Nước has assimilated aspects from various other cultures as well, including western cultures; as Gaboriault said in his article when he talks about how Mua Rồi Nước has incorporated elaborate lightning, sounds and stage techniques that did not exist in traditional Mua Rồi Nước.

2. Fig2: http://talkvietnam.com/2014/01/wednesday-january-15- 2013/#.UxcjzPmSxyM

This image is also from a local website called talkvietnam that has general information about Vietnam for tourism purposes. It is a very recent article; it was written in January 2014. Hence, its advantages and disadvantages are similar to the source above. A distinct positive for this source, however, is that it publishes information in English, French and Vietnamese. Hence, I did not have to have to use Google Translate to access information from this source. Thus, there is less of a possibility of essence of content being lost in translation.

3. Fig3: (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 27)

This picture, unlike all my image sources so far, has not been taken from an online source. It is from Gaboriault’s thesis that have referenced many a times in this article. The picture is used to show a dragon puppet, one of the most complex characters in Mua Rồi Nước performances in terms of puppetry. This picture is credible because Gaboriault took it himself in one of the Mua Rồi Nước performances he attended as part of his research. I have already discussed the credibility of Gaboriault in my first source critique. This image does not help with information about the scene of Avoid Stealing Antique Objects specifically, but does when gathering general information about Mua Rồi Nước.

4. Fig4: http://khanhhoathuynga.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/t%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3ng-chu-t%E1%BB%85u-va-mua-r%E1%BB%91i-n%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Bc/

This image has been taken from a Wordpress article in Vietnamese about Mua Rồi Nước. Wordpress is a free and open source blogging tool used widely on the Web. This particular article was written in 2009 by Thang Bay, a blogger on the website. Like all local, online image sources I have discussed so far, the pictures are credible because they are the personal experiences of a Vietnamese. This particular image is of a statue in a Vietnamese Museum. Hence, the picture is credible because museums preserve valuable items from traditional culture. In addition, the image fits the description of Chủ Tếu studied in other references. However, it is ambiguous whether this picture was taken by the blogger himself or simply taken from a website. If the latter case is true, the legitimacy of the image is reduced.

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[ 1 ]. It is argued that the water puppetry originated in China during the reign of Emperor Ming-ti (227-239 C.E.). On the other hand, scholars believe that there are great differences between water puppetry (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 20) and that Mua Rồi Nước originated in the Red Delta in Northern Vietnam. (Company)
[ 2 ]. A Buddhist Pagoda in the Sốc Trang province of Dồng Bằng Song Cựu Long (Red River Delta) in Northern Vietnam. (Gaboriault, 2009)
[ 3 ]. A golden turtle asks a king to return the magical sword that helped win a battle. (Gaboriault, 2009)
[ 4 ]. for example, performances of The Tháng Long Theatre troupe of Hanoi comprise of seventeen scenes that makes up a show of roughly an hour
[ 5 ]. There are currently six water puppetry troupes in Vietnam. The Thang Long and Central puppet troupes are two main ones, which perform internationally as well.
[ 6 ]. http://vnteg.com/where-to-go/thang-long-water-puppet-theatre.html
[ 7 ]. http://talkvietnam.com/2014/01/wednesday-january-15-2013/#.UxcjzPmSxyM
[ 8 ]. (Gaboriault, 2009, p. 27)
[ 9 ]. http://khanhhoathuynga.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/t%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3ng-chu-t%E1%BB%85u-va-mua-r%E1%BB%91i-n%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Bc/