Municipal Water Puppet Theater

I agree with the previous review. I was going into this meerly for the experience of seeing a slice of traditional Vietnamese culture, but found I was entertained throughout the entire show. As edsander mentioned, the show is only an hour (at best) and the story is easy to follow due to the puppet movements and kind of a bullet point English program that is available.

I would like to add that the prices are very cheap and there is a difference in price between "first" and "second" class (I think that's the titles), which only entails the distance you sit back in the crowd. Since the theatre is so small, this difference is hardly noticable, so choose to only your liking. I wouldn't be worried about seeing anything if you are sitting in the back. Also, there is a 1 USD fee for taking pictures, but they don't enforce this, as I found out.

Also, due to the extreme popularity of this, I highly advise that you pick up tickets in advance, as the shows sell out pretty quickly, especially during high season. We had to go two days later. I hope this adds a bit to the previous review! Enjoy!

During one of the days we spent in Hanoi we visited the famous Water Puppet Theatre near the Hoan Kiem lake. Initially I thought this was going to be a rather childish affair that would annoy the hell out of me. I have to admit though that I enjoyed the 1 hours show enormously and can recommend this traditional Vietname puppertry to anybody that visits Hanoi.

It´s hard to describe the show, but imagine a theatre with a large pool instead of a stage. Professionally trained puppeteers handle a large variety of puppets including some of Vietnam´s legendary creatures like the unicorn, phoenix, firebreathing dragons and the giant turtle of the Haon Kiem lake. All of these puppets move and dance across the pool as if they have a life of their own. The show is accompanied by a band that plays traditional music and deal with the ´voices´ of the puppets and narration. It's all in Vietnamese of course but since the show is very visual you'll understand most of the stories anyway.

If this description still leaves you in doubt, check out some of the footage that can be found on YouTube. As far as I'm concerned catching a show is an essential part of appreciating this love country's culture.