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VietNamNet Bridge – ‘Giai Dieu Ky Uc’ (Melodies of Time) by the Hai Phong City Puppetry Art Troupe won one of three gold prizes of the third International Marionette Festival at Au Co Arts Centre, which closed in Hanoi on September 10.
The performances were staged as an appeal to preserve and uphold the essence of traditional Vietnamese culture during the country’s modernisation process, with Meritorious Artist, Vuong Duy Bien, taking the Best Director prize and the Best Musical prize going to composer Phu Quang.
“I was impressed by ‘Melodies of Time’. It was an excellent performance, which wonderfully displayed the art of puppet control, stage arrangement, set design and intended message to the audience. It was imbued with both oriental philosophy and traditional Vietnamese culture,” said Mazal Amir, Director of the Israel’s Far Theatre.
The two other golds went to ‘Death of Rahwana’ by the Wayang Golek Ajen puppetry troupe from Indonesia and ‘How Sacred the Word “Compatriot”’ by Vietnam’s Thang Long Puppetry Theatre.
Vietnamese performances also dominated the silver prizes, where three out of the four silvers were won by performances of ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ and ‘White Space’ by the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre; and ‘Feature of Hong Lam’ by Ha Tinh provincial puppet troupe. The last silver place was awarded for ‘Hakka Marriage by Coincidence’, a performance by the Shan Puppet Theatre from Chinese Taiwan.
At the conclusion of the event, the organising board awarded an additional 14 gold and 21 silver prizes to domestic and foreign puppeteers and groups of artists.
The week-long festival, co-organised by the Department of Performing Arts and the Vietnam Association of Stage Artists, introduced 19 puppetry performances by 15 troupes from ten countries including Israel, Cambodia, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Laos and host Vietnam.
"The puppeteers coloured the stage with performances in various forms of rod, shadow, string, hand-instructed and water puppetry in various themes, including the traditions and customs of the participating countries; ethic lessons inspired from folk tales, to the burning issues of contemporary life, such as pollution and moral degradation,” said the Chief Judge, Nguyen Thanh Nhan.
“This is the third time we have attended the festival, which provides the artists a good opportunity to exchange professional ideas and techniques, as well as the benefits from increased cultural exchanges” said Danilo Liwanag, head of the Philippines puppet delegation.
Hanoi will continue to host the International Marionette Festival with the next outing already penciled for 2014.
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