This evening, with Hudson in his rain coat, Lila strapped to Rachel and covered in a poncho, and Chris with his Tilly hat - we walked in a downpour to Thang Long, Hanoi's water puppet theatre. This is a thousand-year old Vietnamese performance art, which used to use the paddy water of a rice field or a communal pond as the stage. Today, the theatre is inside, but the stage is still a pool of water. Sixteen-inch puppets made from painted fig wood, are controlled by submerged rods and strings operated by puppeteers standing in thigh-deep water behind a stage. The puppets enact skits drawn from Vietnam' folklore. Though it was all in Vietnamese, and we didn't understand a word of it, it was mesmerizing to watch, and we definitely recognized the story of Hoan Kiem Lake - and the giant tortoise who seizes a sword from the emperor. With hands over his ears (the music was a bit loud and the theatre a bit dark), Hudson watched the puppet characters - fire breathing dragons, dancing birds, swimming fish, fishing boats, a music parade, and a royal procession. We lucked out with isle seats, so we took turns holding, bouncing, and jiggling Lila through the one-hour performance.
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