I must admit that the first time somebody told me to go see the water puppets in Hanoi I was skeptical. I mean how interesting can a puppet show really be? I was dead wrong. I loved every minute of it. It was easily the Highlight of Vietnam. Water Puppets have been around for about 1,000 years. The art form is called mua roi nuoc in Vietnamese and originated in the Red River delta. I am fairly certain you can find performances elsewhere in Vietnam, but the Thang Long Troupe of Hanoi is internationally renowned and probably your best bet.
The theatre is located in the old quarter right next to Hoan Kiem Lake. Tickets were cheap (20,000 - 40,000 dong), and there were three shows a night to choose from: 5:45pm, 6:30pm, and 8pm. Unlike most other forms of puppetry, the stage is a three-dimensional pool of water about waist-deep. The puppets emerge from a curtain at the rear and (I found out later) move around on an intricate hidden system of long bamboo poles and strings. When I first saw the puppets, the way the moved was so fluid and precise that I though there must be someone underneath them in the water.
The show lasts about 45 minutes to an hour and is made up of roughly twenty different sketches of about 2-4 minutes each. They're split between scenes from rural life in Vietnam and Vietnamese myths and folk tales. It's all accompanied by live music with singing and commentary by the musicians. Everything was in Vietnamese, so I'm not sure if they were speaking for the puppets or providing narration.
Either way, I didn't feel like I was missing anything. The puppets were very expressive with their movements, and the gist of each story was easy to follow. Some of the scenes had the audience roaring, like when two inept fishermen ended up catching each other rather that the fish. Others were more reserved and set to pastoral music, but still quite interesting and pretty. The mythological scenes were visually stunning. The dragons spouted genuine sparks and smoke and I saw a stunning creature that I think must have been a Qilin. It was listed in the English program as a unicorn, which I suppose would be the closest Occidental equivalent.
I really wish I had done a bit of background reading and then gone back to see a second performance. One story that I actually recognized was the story of King Le Loi (sort of a Vietnamese King Arthur fable where the lady of the lake is played by a giant golden turtle). I found that knowing even that little bit really added to my understanding and enjoyment.