Nha Trang · Vietnam
Puppets glide across a water stage while a live orchestra plays Vietnamese folk instruments for the full hour.
Somewhere backstage a bicycle turns the strings, and a whole rice field comes alive on the water.
Four facts before you book
The straight answer
Life Puppets is an hour-long production at Đó Theatre, a purpose-built hall on Bãi Tiên beach in Nha Trang. It grows out of Vietnamese water puppetry. Water puppets share a stage of four performance spaces with string, shadow and animated puppets, and a live orchestra of indigenous instruments plays throughout.
It is not a classic water-puppet programme of village skits in a single waist-deep pool, the form that began in the Red River Delta. The theatre calls its show a reinvention of that heritage, so go for the reinvention. It is also not a dinner show or a tour: it is a seated hour in a theatre.
Families with children from age 3, travellers curious about Vietnamese puppetry, and anyone who wants one evening indoors between beach days. Klook sells child and senior tickets, and the theatre says the show is not suitable for children under 3.
Klook sells the show by seat zone with instant confirmation for the date you pick. Its listing offers free cancellation with 24 hours' notice, so read the terms on the booking page for your date before you pay.
The show in nine parts
What the show contains, as the theatre and Klook describe it. Each card names where the detail comes from, because the programme can change.
The theatre says the traditional water pavilion stage was reworked into four interwoven spaces: aerial, animated puppet, underwater and terrestrial. Different kinds of puppet work in different spaces, so the action is not confined to one pool.
The theatre describes expressive bamboo puppets in stories of love and everyday life, where puppets and artists appear as one or more characters. Classic water puppetry is the starting point, the form Wikipedia dates to the 11th century in the Red River Delta.
Klook's listing names scenes of daily life, among them catching frogs and planting rice. Village life is also the home ground of the older tradition, whose skits, Wikipedia says, tell of harvests, fishing and festivals.
Klook's listing also mentions spiritual dances, with light, movement and water effects around them. The listing does not say which dances, so expect the kind of scene, not a named programme.
The theatre pairs string puppets with the tangram, the seven-piece dissection puzzle, so that animal characters seem to change shape. It says the strings are controlled by bicycles, and both the theatre and Klook call this a world first. Read that as the producer's claim.
Handmade shadow puppets, contemporary dance and live motion capture are combined, the theatre says, to animate twelve zodiac characters. The motion capture is a sensor on stage, not a screen show played from a file.
The orchestra plays live for the whole hour. The theatre lists jaw harps, leaf horns, gongs and drums among its instruments, and presents the music as indigenous Vietnamese and Southeast Asian, not folk tunes arranged for a Western band.
The theatre's FAQ says the story follows the dream of Tễu about ancient life, told through the twelve zodiac animals. Tễu is water puppetry's best-known character, a smiling jester boy in a loincloth, Wikipedia says.
The theatre asks guests to keep phones away during the show, with no photos or filming. Its FAQ says guests can have photos taken with the cast in the lobby afterwards.
Details come from the theatre's own site and Klook's listing. Scenes and running order are the producer's to change, so read this as the kinds of scene on offer, not a fixed programme.
Before you pay
Six points that decide whether this evening suits your trip.
Klook sells three seat zones: Zodiac, Tiger and Dragon. The booking page shows the seating plan for your date, so choose the zone there and compare the sightline against the fare.
Klook lists a child ticket for ages 3 and over and under 120 cm, and a senior ticket for ages 60 and over. The theatre says the show is not suitable for children under 3.
No phone use, photos or filming during the show, according to the theatre's FAQ. The cast pose for photos in the lobby afterwards, so you still leave with a picture.
The theatre asks guests to arrive 20 minutes before the show for check-in. Add the journey from your hotel to that, because the theatre sits on Bãi Tiên beach.
Klook's listing offers free cancellation with 24 hours' notice and instant confirmation. Terms can differ by date and ticket, so the booking page is the final word.
The theatre's address is Khu vực Bãi Tiên, Phường Bắc Nha Trang, Khánh Hòa. Show a driver Nhà hát Đó, the theatre's name in Vietnamese, and check the pick-up details on your Klook voucher.
A look at the art form and the coast
None of these photographs shows the Nha Trang production, which is not ours to reproduce. The puppet photos are traditional water-puppet shows in Hanoi, shown for the art form, and the rest are Nha Trang and the coast.
Book the puppets, or pair them
Card one is the show this guide covers. The other four are the second show at the same theatre and three Nha Trang days out that people weigh against an evening in a seat.
A seated hour of water, string, shadow and animated puppets with a live orchestra. Three seat zones, plus child and senior tickets, sit on the same Klook page.
Circus artistry and aerial acrobatics, with Cham, Ede and Jarai folk dances and live native music. The other show you would weigh against the puppets.
A theme-park day on Hòn Tre island. Vinpearl says a VinWonders ticket includes a round-trip cable car ride.
A cable-car ride between the Nha Trang coast and Hòn Tre island, where the terminal opens onto the Vinpearl Harbour waterfront.
A boat day on Nha Phu Bay north of the city, a different outing from an evening in the theatre.
Open the Klook calendar to see open dates and the fare in your own currency.
Before the night
The theatre runs two productions, so decide between puppets and acrobatics first, then look for a date. The Klook calendar shows which dates are open for each.
Klook sells Zodiac, Tiger and Dragon zones. Open the seating plan on the booking page and weigh the view against the fare, since the three zones are priced differently.
The theatre is on Bãi Tiên beach, away from the central beach. Add the trip from your hotel to the 20 minutes the theatre asks for check-in, and book a ride back if you plan one.
The theatre bars photos and filming during the show and offers cast photos in the lobby afterwards. Charge the phone for those, not for the show.
Klook lists a child ticket for ages 3 and over and under 120 cm. The show is about an hour of live performance, so it suits children who can sit through a film.
A boat day, a theme-park day or a morning at the Cham towers fills the daylight. Three of the cards on this page are exactly that, so book them for other days.
More on the show, the music and the city
The short answer 
Which show to book FAQ
It is Life Puppets, an hour-long production at Đó Theatre on Bãi Tiên beach. It builds on Vietnamese water puppetry and adds string, shadow and animated puppets, with a live orchestra of indigenous instruments.
In spirit, yes: water, painted puppets and village themes. In format, no. The theatre describes a four-space stage and a modern production, not the village skits of the Red River Delta.
It is if you want a distinctive indoor hour that blends puppetry, dance and live music, and you accept it is a reinvention. Klook shows 4.5 out of 5 from 351 reviews, so read the guide first.
About 60 minutes, according to both Klook and the theatre. The theatre asks guests to arrive 20 minutes earlier to check in.
From age 3, yes: Klook sells a child ticket for that age. The theatre advises against bringing children under 3.
Klook's listing offers free cancellation with 24 hours' notice. Terms can differ by date and ticket, so check the booking page before you pay.
Not while it runs: the theatre's FAQ asks guests to stay off their phones. Photos with the cast are offered in the lobby once the show ends.
No. This is an independent guide, and the theatre, its producer and the performers have no connection to it. You book on Klook, and the buttons here are affiliate links that pay the site a commission at no extra cost to you.
Klook prices the ticket in your currency when you open its calendar.