Water Puppets, or Mua Roi Nuoc is an ancient art form that unique to northern Vietnam, which traces its origins to rice-farmer folk culture. Hanoi is the best place to watch Water Puppets performance which is origined from Hanoi. We watched it at Thang Long Water Puppet Theater at first-class seats which cost VND 40,000. There are second-class seats that costs VND 20,000. The differences being that first-class seats are in the front of the theater, and are given a CD that recorded musics played in water puppet performance. At the day we visited, there were show at 4 pm, 5.15 pm, 6.30 pm and 8 pm.


The traditional musicians, who also acted as story tellers and voice of characters during Water Puppet show.

The water puppets moved and danced in a shallow pool of murky water (to hide the mechanisms operating them) and were accompanied by the voices and instruments of a groupd of traditional Vietnamese musicians.

The theatre which water puppet performed. The show was entirely in Vietnamese, but it was very lively and understandable from its gesture.

The water puppets showed northern vietnam’s agricultural practices and acted out Vietnam’s history and mythology. Here was phoenix puppets.

Vietnamese water puppets performed dance.

The water puppeteers which stood behind the curtained backdrop during the show.

Some of the water puppeteers re-arranged the stage and cleaned the pool after the show.

The sales girl showed how a water puppet works