***PLEASE NOTE THIS EXCURSION IS POSTPONED.  WE WILL RESCHEDULE IN THE AUTUMN.  APOLOGIES TO THOSE WHO HAD SIGNED UP***

Travel to one of the few remaining villages which is still home to the craftsmen and handlers of Water Puppets. This full day study tour will visit Đông Các
Village in Thái Bình Province, approximately 130 kilometers from Hà Nội. The village has over 300 years of Water Puppet history. We will learn about this village‘s individual designs and its unique equipment used to control the puppets; after that we will experience a special performance.

Currently, there are some 20 members of the Đông Các Water Puppet group; we will meet the group‘s head, the two Deputies and some of the troupe‘s members.

Some of the Ward‘s troupe‘s members‘ families have handed this craft down through the centuries. For the troupe members Water Puppets are a first love, but most of the puppeteers must now work in agriculture, carpentry or masonry in order to have enough income to raise their families. The oldest troupe member is 84 years old and the youngest is 35.

Presently only two members, aged 65 and 68, are skilled enough to make the puppets and have only four assistants learning the craft. It is truly a rare and endangered art form. Hữu Ngọc once wrote an article – ‘Do Water Puppets Talk?’  Maybe on this trip we‘ll answer that question.

Bring a packed lunch or have lunch in a nearby local restaurant.

Max 29 pax. Email John  to register.

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