Visa problem delays 'Saigon' puppetry troupe

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

A last-minute governmental snag in Vietnam has forced the East-West Center to postpone performances by a Vietnamese puppetry company that were to begin tonight.

Officials of the center and of Tim Bostock Productions, co-presenter of the shows, said the performances are delayed until next week, but they don't expect any further delays for the Saigon Water Puppet Theatre, whose puppeteers are due in Honolulu Sunday morning.

"But you will notice that the first concert isn't until Wednesday," said William Feltz, the center's coordinator of arts programs. "So that gives us a little more cushion in case of another delay."

The estimated 1,000 tickets sold for this weekend's shows can be used at any of the rescheduled performances, said producer Tim Bostock: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and June 6 at the Waikiki Shell Amphitheater.

Meanwhile, the five musicians accompanying the puppeteers, a group called Rup Toon Cack, had been cleared for travel before the problem arose and arrived here Wednesday, in time for their scheduled concert last night at Orvis Auditorium.

Bostock and Feltz both expressed frustration at the delay. Feltz said it comes at the end of several years' work making arrangements for the company's visit here, the first stop in a summer-long North American and European tour. The U.S. visas had been in place for a long time, he said.

"It was completely the Vietnamese authorities slowing this," he said. "This was a new barrier put up by someone."

The concerts had been the focus of a planned protest by a committee comprising representatives of some Vietnamese community groups. That committee, Vietnamese Associations in Hawaii, sent a letter to East West Center officials that said the shows served as propaganda for Vietnam's Communist regime.

Bostock said the delay appears unrelated to the protest and seems to stem from a disagreement over the way travel clearances were issued.

Leaders of the protest maintain that even a performance by an entrepreneurial troupe that isn't sponsored directly by the government serves as a cover for "human rights violations" by the Hanoi regime.

"The community appreciates the interest in the culture, but the government keeps exploiting it," said Quoc Le, coordinator of the protest. The committee's protest letter is posted on the group's Web site (http://www.levietquoc.net/protest/protest_letter.asp).

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.