Artist Pham Van Be is the head of his family’s puppetry troupe, a trade that’s been handed down from father to son for 10 generations. There are 19 artists in Mr Be’s puppetry guild, most of whom are children or relatives.

Established in Te Tieu town in My Duc district in the 11^th century under the Ly Dynasty, Te Tieu puppetry was first staged to honour the King’s longevity. Despite social and economic upheavals over the past 50 years, locals like Pham Be and his relatives are determined to preserve this unique art form. He says its resurgence is due to his passion for the career and his karma. Now his guild travels to anywhere they are invited to perform. Mr Be and the other guild members all wish to bring the local art form to the public to help them partly ease their daily hardships.

“We, the artists, find our audiences’ applause, particularly that of children, encourages us to keep puppetry going and further develop it,” said Mr Be. “As long as I live, I will do my best to develop puppetry.”

What makes Te Tieu puppetry unique is that puppets are made by the guild’s artists. By doing so, Mr Be says their puppets are more lively and spirited. A Te Tieu puppeteer must know to do everything from make-up, decorations, music, to introductory singing and performance. And they must do everything perfectly. As a result, seven years ago, the 80-year-old passed the torch to his son in the hope that he will preserve the art form.

Mr Be’s youngest son, Pham Cong Bang, says that puppetry has been part of his life since he was eight years old when he started learning the trade.

“When I was a child, I participated in puppetry performances at school,” said Mr Be. “I was always excited to join in any performance at a tour festival. I was impressed most at the 1994 puppetry festival as I received strong responses from the audiences. I’m determined to preserve the family’s dozen-year-old career.”

Apart from traditional legends like wrestling, herding buffaloes, ploughing, or swinging on a swing, the Te Tieu puppetry guild has developed new stories such as ‘a blind fortune teller sings xam songs’ and ‘Thach Sanh kills King Python’. The guild has also designed stories for children like ‘a naughty goat and a good bear’ which instructs children to obey their elders. Mr Be says the guild develops puppetry shows by combining music and traditional tales that are human and educational yet easy to access. ‘10 pieces of advice to a girl before getting married’ is a favourite.

In water puppetry, Teu, an intelligent, robust and elegant young man plays an important role as he teasingly sings the prologue and presents the programme’s agenda while commenting on the villagers’ shortcomings. In stage puppetry, the narrator’s role is also significant because it requires the person to have a strong and echoing voice. More particularly, he must be very charming and exciting enough to stir up the stage.

Passionate Pham Van Be and his relatives are making tireless efforts to revive the traditional Te Tieu stage puppetry. Let’s hope that their desire comes true.