À Ố Show tickets, or a water puppet show?

What an À Ố Show ticket covers

The À Ố Show is a Lune Production performance that plays at the Saigon Opera House in Ho Chi Minh City. The ticket sold here is an entry ticket for that show. It includes a reserved seat based on your selection, hotel pick-up and drop-off, and food and drinks. The show lasts about an hour. The starting times appear in the booking calendar once you choose a date, so this guide gives none. Lune also runs Lang Toi – My Village in Hanoi and Teh Dar in Hoi An at other venues, and this ticket is for neither of them.

Read next: À Ố Show vs Cirque du Soleil: what to know

What you are actually watching

Lune says the name À Ố comes from Lang Pho, which means village and city. The show sets Vietnamese countryside life against the country's rapid urbanisation, and it mixes bamboo circus, acrobatic acts, dance and theatrical visual art. Lune describes the live music as echoing Southern Vietnamese work songs, and it lists a light touch of humour among the show's features. In its account of the show's Sydney performances, Lune says each story is told through the acrobats' movements and the use of bamboo as tools and props, without any need for spoken narrative.

Choosing your date and seats

Seats are decided by the booking system on a first-come, first-served basis once your booking succeeds, and your seat number appears on your Theatre Pass. The booking calendar lets you pick a date and the seat option offered for it, and it shows the starting time for that date. If you are travelling as a group, put everyone on the same order so you are seated together. Lune's own booking steps also ask you to choose a ticket category and a time, so the choice is similar wherever you book.

• Put everyone on one order to sit together
• Use the starting time shown for your date
• Keep your Theatre Pass for your seat number

Getting there and back

The meeting point on the booking is the Saigon Opera House itself, at 7 Lam Son Square in District 1. The ticket includes hotel pick-up and drop-off, so you only need to find the building if you prefer to arrive on your own. Check your confirmation for the pick-up details that apply to your hotel and date. Lune's venue page describes the theatre as standing on the city's central axis, between the metro station and the roundabout in front of Ben Thanh market.

Booking through the listing or direct

You can buy from Lune Production's own site or through the booking listing this site links to, and the two work differently. Booked through GetYourGuide, you get free cancellation up to 24 hours before the show and a reserve-now, pay-later option. Lune's own terms say there is no cancellation, return or refund after successful online payment, apart from stated cases such as a cancelled or postponed show. Lune sends an e-ticket by email, and its terms say you take it to the Lune ticket office to receive physical tickets. Lune also says its website fares are exclusive to website purchases, so compare your date on both.

Children, age checks and the rules inside

Children under 5 are not admitted to the auditorium, because of the sound, lighting and content. A child rate applies to ages 5 to 12, and parents should keep a copy of the child's passport on their phone, because the organiser may run random age checks. Phones, cameras and video recording are not allowed, and neither is bringing in food or drink. Food and drinks are also listed as included, so read your confirmation for how that works on the night. The show starts on time, and late arrivals may not be admitted.

When a water puppet show is the better pick

Water puppetry is a folk art that began in the villages of the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam and is described as going back as far as the 11th century. Lacquered wooden puppets are worked with rods and hidden strings by puppeteers standing behind a split-bamboo screen, in a pool about four metres square. A traditional orchestra plays live, and singers narrate the story. The skits draw on folklore and rural life, often with humour. If you prefer a quiet, traditional folk art to acrobatics, book that instead.

Seeing both, or choosing one

The two are different evenings. The À Ố Show is contemporary circus in a French-colonial opera house, with the story carried by movement and music. A water puppet show is a folk tradition with sung narration, staged on water. If you have two free evenings, you can book one of each. Check each venue's own schedule for your dates, because showtimes are set per date. If you only have one evening, choose by what you like to watch: athletic staging and live music, or folk tales told with puppets.

How far ahead to book

Lune's terms state that reservations depend on seat availability, and the booking system allocates seats in the order bookings succeed. Book once your dates are fixed, and you will have the widest choice of nights. Booked through GetYourGuide, you can reserve now and pay later, and cancel free up to 24 hours before, so booking early carries little risk. Lune's own online terms are stricter, so read them before paying there. This guide does not predict a sell-out for any date.

Who this isn't for

Skip the À Ố Show if you have a child under 5, because they are not admitted. Skip it if you want to film or photograph the performance, since phones and cameras are not allowed in the auditorium. It is also the wrong pick if you want narration you can follow word by word, because the story is carried by movement and music rather than speech. And if traditional puppetry is what you are after, book a water puppet show instead.