Two art troupes from South Korea will hold shows at Viet Nam Youth Theatre, treating local audiences to impressive puppetry performances from February 19-23.

Art Stage San and Performance Group Tuida are professional performing arts companies in Korea.

They will hold a show each on February 19, 20, 22 and 23, with Art Stage San staging Dallae's Story and Performance Group Tuida staging The Tale of Haruk.

Dallae's Story, a nonverbal production, is about the life of an ordinary family that is interrupted by war. The piece does not directly talk about the war itself, but portrays the efforts of a family to overcome hardship during wartime.

Dallae, portrayed as a puppet, collects blooming flowers in summer time and goes fishing with her father, catches dragonflies and picks apples in autumn, and makes a snowman in winter.

However, their happy life becomes a tragedy after the war begins. Dallae is left alone after her father is conscripted.

Then the story is told through the eyes of the innocent Dallae in a fairy tale-like fantasy.

The story is expressed through hand manipulations of the puppets, from the birth of the daughter and their happy, sweet family life to wartime in a play within a play, with sets of the four seasons representing life and the passage of time.

Premiering in 2003, the show has evolved from its early format to the current version. Various artists such as mime artists, photographers and video artists have collaborated to discuss the nature of war and its cruelty and human rights. The title of the show also changed from When Spring Comes and War to the current Dallae's Story.

After numerous changes in format and story, the show has developed its own identity, focusing on the story of Dallae.

Dallae's Story will be performed on Friday and 20 at 7.30pm.

Performance Group Tuida, meanwhile, uses traditional Korean paper puppets, unique native masks and percussion instruments made of eco-friendly materials such as Korean paper, straw and hemp and even trash to tell The Tale of Haruk in a contemporary style.

This lyrical and beautiful story of Haruk, who ate everything he saw, breaks down barriers of region, race, religion and rebirth to become an everyman's tale with which anyone can sympathise.

Debuting in 2002, The Tale of Haruk won four awards, including Best Production, at the Seoul Children's Theatre Awards and has been invited to perform at festivals in Japan, China, Singapore and Hungary, as well as Australia, Turkey and Austria.

At the 2009 International Theatre King festival in Russia, it won both the Best Production and Young Critics prizes for the first time in the festival's history.

The two South Korean puppetry companies will perform in Ha Noi for the first time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Cultural Centre in Viet Nam.

Free tickets can be picked up at Viet Nam Youth Theatre, 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street, and Korean Cultural Centre, 49 Nguyen Du Street.

VNS