The Thang Long troupe made their debut tour of the United States October 1995 in San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Santa Ana. For over a thousand years, performers in Vietnamese water puppet theater have always gotten cold feet. And very wet.
Water puppetry is performed in a chest-deep pool of water, with the water's surface as a stage.
The puppeteers stand behind a curtained backdrop. Water puppets bring wry humor to scenes of farming, fishing, festival events such as buffalo fights, and children's games of marbles and coin-toss. Besides village life, scenes include legends and national history. Lion dogs romp like puppies while dragons exhale smoke and shoot sprays of water at the audience. Performances of up to 18 short scenes are usually introduced by a pig-tailed bumpkin known as Teu, and accompanied by a small folk orchestra.