Electric puppet artist in Xuan An parish

Passion leads the way

On the eve of the Lunar New Year of Quy Mao 2023, in the lingering scent of incense on a cold day, visiting the house of old farmer Ho Van Than (63 years old) in hamlet 7, Quynh Xuan ward (Hoang Mai town), we saw him diligently and meticulously cleaning electric puppets of various colors and shapes.

"Preparing carefully to perform to serve the people to enjoy Tet and welcome Spring, ma'am", he happily said, then stopped to chat with us over a pot of hot tea.

Old farmer Ho Van Than and his grandson with the electric puppets. Photo: Khanh Ly

Old farmer Ho Van Than smiled kindly, then got into the story. Since childhood, whenever he had the opportunity to go see puppet shows, he had a special love for the art of puppetry.

But it was not until he reached adulthood, when the locality established the Dong Que Puppetry Troupe, that he truly fell in love with this art form. At that time, practicing was very difficult, 15 puppets had to be operated by 15 people, very cumbersome. Every time he and his puppet troupe performed, they often had to carry a lot of cumbersome equipment.

After a few years, for many reasons, the puppet troupe gradually disbanded, but Mr. Than still had a burning desire for puppets. He struggled with the question of how to reduce costs and human resources while still making the performances lively and attractive. At first, he experimented with carving, carving wood, cutting foam, and painting to create puppets himself, then gradually researched and discovered the principle of using electric motors so that the lifeless puppets could move, coordinate rhythmically according to the script's ideas and match the music vividly.

Mr. Ho Van Than repairs an electric puppet set to serve the Tet and Spring celebrations. Photo: Khanh Ly

Only finished 7th grade, but thanks to his talent, love and passion, the old farmer of Xuan An parish, Ho Van Than, created vivid, beautiful, "one-of-a-kind" electric puppets from scrap materials and available items. He also worked hard to find old electric motors and items from scrapyards to make frames, musical instruments, and shapes for the characters.

After several failures, he finally succeeded with electric puppets. At first, it was just a few puppets with simple movements, gradually upgrading to a puppet troupe of 10-15 puppets, with vivid and attractive scenes.

Just plug in the power, turn on the switch, the electric puppets automatically dance to the music like real actors performing without the need for a conductor, receiving the applause and delight of the people. That has given old farmer Ho Van Than more motivation, taking advantage of the free time or rainy weather to spend time creating puppets with many different scenes, satisfying his passion.

Some of Mr. Ho Van Than's electric puppet works. Photo: Khanh Ly

Every time he hears a piece of music or watches an impressive, attractive movie or play, Mr. Than remembers it, then uses his talented, skillful hands and rich imagination to turn inanimate objects into characters in scenes that are deeply imprinted with life. They are Thai girls dancing the xoè dance; Mong boys playing the festival flute; Central Highlands girls playing the T'rung, women milling rice, measuring rice, dancing on bamboo poles, singing then. Or simply farmers plowing, country women sitting making rice cakes...

He especially loves and often incorporates folk melodies such as Nghe Tinh folk songs, Nghe Tinh folk songs, Bac Ninh folk songs, and Tay Bac love songs into his puppetry. Or when watching good movies like “Vu Dai Village of the Past”, Mr. Than also creates puppet scenes of Chi Pheo and Thi No that are loved by many people.

Old farmer Ho Van Than passionately talks about his passion for electric puppets. Photo: Khanh Ly

Currently, Mr. Ho Van Than's collection includes about 15 sets of electric puppets, with hundreds of characters. To create works that are loved and highly appreciated, he had to spend months painstakingly researching, exploiting the appearance, gestures, and expressions of each character, and then creating the shapes. The most difficult and time-consuming step is to make sure that each character's movements are rhythmic, synchronized, and in sync with the music.

Therefore, in addition to the main motor shaft, he had to use many auxiliary motors and gear shafts to regulate the speed of each character. Luckily, his daughter is very skillful, so she often helps her father sew costumes for the puppets to suit the content of the scenes. Mr. Than's son - who is the Secretary of the Youth Union of Hamlet 7, Quynh Xuan Ward - also often supports his father in finding materials or helping to transport the puppets to performances.

Old farmer Ho Van Than with the puppet show Chi Pheo - Thi No. Photo: Khanh Ly

“Although I only perform for fun, I always try to create many puppet shows with many scenes suitable for music for each audience (women, the elderly, children or youth music for teenagers) to serve audiences of different ages,” Mr. Than happily said.

Struggling with traditional art

Initially, the electric puppets of old farmer Ho Van Than mainly performed to entertain at local festivals, activities celebrating the founding anniversary of the ward, children's camps, and Christmas.

Then the good news spread far and wide, many people affectionately called the old farmer Ho Van Than "Countryside puppet artist" and he was invited to perform by many organizations and individuals inside and outside Hoang Mai town, and was invited by Vietnam Television Station VTV1 to make programs.

Mr. Ho Van Than introduces electric puppets at Nghe An Museum. Photo: Duc Anh

There were even puppeteers in Hue who came to visit and buy puppet sets such as: Countryside, Rice Grinding, Tay Bac Love Song, Tay Nguyen Love Song, Bac Ninh Quan Ho from Mr. Than. However, this old farmer from Xuan An parish was still very modest, he said he was just a puppeteer from the countryside, contributing to the people's entertainment.

Electric puppet works by Mr. Ho Van Than are introduced at Nghe An Museum. Photo: Duc Anh

Born and raised in the village, the main job of old farmer Ho Van Than is still farming. Now his children are all grown up and have families, but he still works hard and is attached to the fields. In addition to 6 hectares of rice, he also built a farm to raise goats, grass carp, raise shrimp in between crops, and raise hundreds of chickens, ducks, etc. "Not rich, but it helps me nurture my passion for puppetry," said Mr. Than.

An electric puppet show created by Mr. Ho Van Than to serve children. Photo: Duc Anh

Having said that, he still devotes much thought to traditional art, always researching and upgrading the puppetry to make it more vivid and attractive, and integrating traditional music into the scenes.

On the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when he was invited by Nghe An Museum to perform in the "Electric Puppetry" experience program for children, or invited by the local Youth Union to participate in serving children's summer camps, he happily accepted, because he wanted to help the younger generation understand more about the cultural values ​​of the nation.

Children are engrossed in watching electric puppetry performed by Mr. Ho Van Than at Nghe An Museum. Photo: Duc Anh

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thu - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Quynh Xuan Ward (Hoang Mai Town) said: Mr. Ho Van Than is a Catholic who lives a "good life, good religion". The electric puppetry products he creates not only satisfy his personal passion but also bring unique spiritual food to local people, especially during Tet, contributing to preserving and conserving the traditional art form with strong national identity from the risk of being lost and forgotten...

Khanh Ly