Hanoi (VNA) - Noted waterpuppeteer Phan Thanh Liem has just opened his second miniature theatre forwater puppetry at his private home in Hanoi’s Long Bien district.

Born into a family with seven generations workingas puppeteers in Rach village, Nam Chan commune, Nam Truc district in thenorthern province of Nam Dinh, Liem performs with a specially designed mobilestage for water puppetry invented by his father.

Liem has also created various new puppetsto perform alongside traditional ones. He has composed his own scripts andserved as the main puppeteer for the past 20 years.

His mobile stage includes a nylon watertank, which is used as the water surface for the art. The tank is designed tolook like a communal house, which serves as the backdrop for the puppets.

Liem’s father, Phan Van Ngai, has helpedtrained many generations of artists for the Central Puppetry Theatre andpuppetry troupes for various localities. His mobile stage for water puppetry isstill used by central and local troupes. The Louvre Museum displays a puppetnamed Chu Teu carved by Ngai.

Ngai has run a family puppetry troupe with Liem,who has realised the limitations of the form’s traditional big stage, whichconsists of a communal house located on a large lake or tank. It is not onlylarge but also difficult to move and not suitable for a family-sized troupe.

Liem’s first miniature stage for waterpuppetry was first used in 2000 at Van Ho Art Exhibition Centre in Hanoi withsmall puppets on a tank 80cm in length and 50cm. Then Liem designed the largertank that he uses now.

At the opening ceremony for the privatewater puppetry stage in Long Bien district last week, Liem said the mobile stagehas many advantages.

“It’s small, light, convenient to bring toserve audiences in small spaces like schools, offices and even private homes,”he said. “It’s also convenient for performance in remote areas or abroad.”

“With the small stage, the distance betweenthe stage and audience is also reduced,” he added. “Artists and audiences havea better chance to exchange ideas on the traditional water puppetry art ofVietnam.”

Liem has not only served domestic audiencesbut also traveled overseas to perform. He has created various scripts toreflect today’s important issues.

His first mini theatre for water puppetryin Kham Thien Market Lane, in Dong Da district, has become popular with bothdomestic and foreign tourists.

His second home theatre is located at No22, Lane 145/8, Thach Ban Street, Long Bien district.

“I opened this second theatre as it is aconvenient stop on the tours to Quang Ninh province or Bat Trang pottery village,”he said. “My first theatre in Kham Thien Lane cannot meet audiences’ demands,though many foreigners like to walk through the lane to reach my theatrethere.”

The theatre in his house in Kham Thien Lanecan receive up to 21 audience members while the new one in Long Bien districtcan welcome 50.

At the opening ceremony, film director DangNhat Minh was impressed with the colour of silt in the tank.

“Liem told me that is the silt from HongRiver,” Minh said. “He puts the silt from Hong River on the tank not only athome theatres but also brings along the silt to perform overseas, as he has notbeen able to find any other colours representing the Vietnamese countrysidebesides the colour of natural silt.-VNA