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Article: The wonderful world of Wayang.(shadow puppet show)
- Article from:
- Faces: People, Places, and Cultures
- Article date:
- May 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
It's nighttime in a village in central Java and everyone is outside. Smoke rises from the cook pots. Children run and play. Adults chat about the day's events. Vendors sell toys and other goods. Everybody in the family, old and young, is waiting for the wayang kulit (shadow puppet show) to begin. A large cotton sheet hangs at the back of a simple stage to form a curtain. Gamelan (gah-muh-lan) musicians are seated nearby ready to play their gongs, xylophones, and rows of tuned metal bars.
Oil lamps are hung behind the sheet so that audience watching from in front of the stage will see only the wayang (shadow silhouettes) of the ...