By - 6 Mar 2011
"Vietnamese Water Puppets or ‘how to introduce your kids to the Auckland Arts Festival.’"
"Arts festivals are great for those of us who like to think we
are sophisticated and cultured, but how did we get to that point?
Usually it's because, at some point in our lives, we have been
exposed to the arts and developed a lifelong appreciation of arts
and culture as a result.
And so it was with the wonderful Vietnamese water puppets on a
warm Sunday afternoon. I took my 8 year old son to the show and as
a result, I feel like I have helped set him on his journey of
appreciation of the arts.
The Thang Long Troupe are highly regarded for their unique water
puppetry. That's what the programme stated, and having witnessed
them I can accept that statement as something more than a mere
marketing tagline.
It doesn't matter if you don't have children to take, there's
something for everyone here - even for the hipsters sipping wine in
the second row who were, like all of us, enthralled by the
performance.
Kicking off with a few orchestral numbers from the musicians, the
excitement really began as puppet drummers burst forth from the
pagoda, and barely let up for a full 40 minutes, taking us through
traditional activities of rural life in Vietnam. Fishing, rice
planting, harvesting, frog catching and children playing all
featured along with more traditional mythological creatures
including dragons, fairies and the king of all birds - the
phoenix.
There's simple enjoyment here. Even my video game fanatic son was
delighted with the performance and I found it difficult to watch
the performance when his delight was so evident it was hard to not
enjoy his sheer happiness by the show.
I guess that's it in a way - a wonderful show that I would
heartily recommend to all, and who knows - perhaps water puppetry
is a door that will lead to a lifelong enjoyment of the arts. We
left with Mr 8 having really enjoyed the show - and me feeling like
I had opened a door for him."
By Lane Hannah 6 March 2011.
Thread:
http://www.thread.co.nz/news/5727/15/Puppet-master/d,thread-article