Show «In Bóng Long Thành» (Silhouette of Thăng Long)

   Forty-five minutes and a few streets from Hoan Kiem Lake, an older Hanoi steps back on stage — live music, singing and wooden puppets worked by hand in the same room as you. This is traditional puppetry staged inside an art centre on Hang Bo Street rather than in a coach-tour theatre, which means you sit close enough to watch the puppeteers' hands rather than just the figures.

   The programme is produced by Area 75 – Art & Auction together with Nhà hát Múa rối Việt Nam (the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre) and Hồ Gươm Audio. Area 75 belongs to the Arts & Cultural Products company founded in 1959, nearly seventy years inside the capital's cultural life. «Long Thành» is one of the old names of Thăng Long, the city that later became Hanoi — the title tells you what the evening is after.

   The show plays on Friday evenings, each performance 45 minutes with no interval. Two tiers are on sale, Standard and VIP, and seats are assigned by the organisers, so arrive around 15 minutes early.

   The next evenings are Friday 4 September and Friday 11 September, both starting at 18:30. Then the schedule breaks: there is no performance on 18 September, and the following open evening is Friday 25 September, again at 18:30. Nothing beyond those three dates is on sale yet.

   If you want one compact, genuinely local evening in the Old Quarter — something you can bring visiting friends to and still walk around the lake afterwards — this is the easiest way in. Tickets are sold through Ticketbox.