The Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater — Attraction in Ho Chi Minh City

We went to the Golden Dragon Puppet Theater to experience one of their shows. It can fill up quite quickly, but you can purchase tickets ahead of time to guarantee a seat. We showed up early, then grabbed some street food outside the theater while we waited for the show to start.

Most of the audience were Western or Chinese tourists. While it seems few locals attend these days, it’s impressive that such a skilled troupe keeps the tradition alive. On your way in, you'll receive English-written brochures explaining the stories in the show.

The theater is small, which means you should be able to see the puppets even if you are a few rows back. Still, sitting closer to the front nets a better view. The stage is decorated with a faux Vietnamese temple with a pool in front of it. On either side are places for the musicians to sit, who play traditional instruments during the show.

Photography is allowed at the show, as long as there is no flash. But you should bear in mind how this might affect other people's experience. No one wants to be sat behind someone filming the whole show.

The play is told in 17 acts, each with its own story. One act shows us agricultural life on the river, a glimpse into how traditional farmers would take advantage of the river to grow crops. Another act shows fishermen attempting to catch fish, a comedic segment where the fish elude and taunt the angler, catapulting themselves at their faces. One act shows a traditional boat race, giving a sense of movement down a long river despite the limited size of the stage.

I particularly enjoyed the animal segments, as each animal became its own character. The water dragon, both hunting and being hunted, was one of the highlights of the show.

Each act is accompanied by traditional music and song, performed by the band flanking the stage. They use drums, flutes, and even frog percussion instruments to create an atmosphere for each scene. The songs and voice acting are performed in Vietnamese. This might put some people off, but it's easy to understand from the context, and if you miss something, a quick glance at the guide helps.

The puppeteers are remarkably skilled at expressing emotions through the puppets. One might throw their arms up in anger, another trembling with fear before fleeing a dragon.

I thought briefly about how the puppets were controlled, and imagined they were under the water holding their breath for the duration of the show. Of course, this isn't how they actually do it. They stand behind the stage, waist-deep in water, and manipulate the puppets with long rods.

I initially thought the water would be a gimmick, but it’s central to the storytelling. The puppeteers skillfully use the water to hide control mechanisms and create the illusion of boats and animals floating freely on the river stage.

The final act is the Dance of the Four Holy Animals, featuring the Dragon of the east that  embodies power, prosperity, and good luck; the Unicorn of the west that symbolises peace, good fortune, and sometimes learning; the Turtle of the north symbolising wisdom, longevity, and perseverance, and the Phoenix of the south representing virtue and grace. These are meanings rooted in Vietnamese myth and folklore.

Some people might find parts of the show repetitive, especially as it nears the end. But each show lasts only 50 minutes, so it doesn't drag on too long for people who find they don't enjoy it as much as they expected.

The show ended and the actors bow and accept their applause. This is definitely an entertaining way to spend an afternoon and learn a little about traditional Vietnamese puppetry. Would I go again? Probably only if I’m with someone new to Vietnam, but as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it’s...

It was just disgusting! I have no complaints about what was happening on stage. The performance was funny, cute, colorful, wonderful live music... But! In the middle of the performance, suddenly a loud dance beat began to be heard from above, thereby interfering with the performance, creating a terrible cacophony along with the music on stage and breaking the whole impression of the action. As it turned out later, there are some dance courses there, and they have classes scheduled!.. How is that even possible?! I can't imagine any theater, concert, movie show, in any city in the world that I would come to, and suddenly a disco, a wedding, anything starts in the next room, which destroys the performance that I came to. I'm still in shock! Why did this become possible at all? OK, let's say there is no longer a theater on top floor, and the theater is not responsible for what is happening outside the theater. But the theater is responsible to its audience for the quality of the services provided. And if there is such a problem, then the problem must be solved! Either negotiate with the dance studio and adjust the schedule of their classes together, or make a major soundproofing. Otherwise, it's just blatant disrespect for the audience. It should be a great shame for this! But it seems that no one there is ashamed of it. The problem probably didn't...

So disappointing and a complete waste of money. We saw the water puppet show in Hanoi so we had pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything fun or even pleasant about this show. The theater was terrible with loads of obstructed views. You can hear the bass-heavy music blasting from the adjacent venue throughout the show. But the worst bit was the audience, about half of whom were self-absorbed and entitled jerks who talked (rather loudly) throughout the performance, video'd using their phones without a thought to how distracting this is to other guests, took pictures with the flash brightly flashing or scrolled through their social media/text instead of even trying to watch the show. We saw more than a couple of attendees have to ask people to stop with the video and cameras. Note that there was no announcement at the start asking that guests show respect and keep their voices down and phones turned off. In fact, we watched the ushers set the example by scrolling though their phones for the entire show. Well, I can't say the entire show because we left early out of frustration and disgust... and we were among several who left early. I feel genuinely bad for the performers who were trying their best in awful circumstances (and received tepid applause that could only be due to an audience that was either frustrated...