Shadow play, also known asshadow puppetry, is an ancient form ofstorytelling andentertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen orscrim. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A skilledpuppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh.
There are four different types of performances in shadow play: the actors using their bodies as shadows, puppets where the actors hold them as shadows in the daytime, spatial viewing, and viewing the shadows from both sides of the screen.[1]
Shadow play is popular in various cultures, among both children and adults in many countries around the world. More than 20 countries are known to have shadow show troupes. Shadow play is an old tradition and is listed as aSyrian intangible cultural heritage byUNESCO.[2] It also has a long history inSoutheast Asia, especially inIndonesia,Malaysia,Thailand, andCambodia. It has been an ancient art and a living folk tradition inChina,India,Iran andNepal. It is also known inEgypt,Turkey,Greece,Germany,France, and theUnited States.[3][4][5][6]
Shadow play probably developed from "par" shows with narrative scenes painted on a large cloth and the story further related through song. As the shows were mostly performed at night the par was illuminated with an oil lamp or candles. Shadow puppet theatre likely originated in Central Asia-China or in India in the 1st millennium BCE.[7][3] By at least around 200 BCE, the figures on cloth seem to have been replaced with puppetry in Indiantholu bommalata shows. These are performed behind a thin screen with flat, jointed puppets made of colorfully painted transparent leather. The puppets are held close to the screen and lit from behind, while hands and arms are manipulated with attached canes and lower legs swinging freely from the knee.[8]
The evidence of shadow puppet theatre is found in both old Chinese and Indian texts. The most significant historical centers of shadow play theatre have been China, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.[3][4][9]
According to Martin Banham, there is little mention of indigenous theatrical activity in the Middle East between the 3rd century CE and the 13th century, including the centuries that followed the Islamic conquest of the region.[10] The shadow puppet play, states Banham, probably came into vogue in the Middle East after the Mongol invasions and thereafter it incorporated local innovations by the 16th century. Little mention of shadow play is found in the Islamic literature of Iran, but much is found in Turkish and 19th-century Ottoman Empire-influenced territories.[10]
While shadow play theatre is an Asian invention, hand puppets have a long history in Europe.[11] As European merchant ships sailed in the search of sea routes to India and China, they helped diffuse popular entertainment arts and cultural practices into Europe. Shadow theatre became popular in France, Italy, Britain and Germany by the 17th century.[12][13] In France, shadow play was advertised asombres chinoises, while elsewhere they were called "magic lantern".[12]Goethe helped build a shadow play theatre in Tiefurt in 1781.[13][14]
According to Stephen Herbert, the popular shadow theatre evolved nonlinearly into projected slides and ultimately intocinematography. The common principle in these innovations were the creative use of light, images and a projection screen.[15] According to Olive Cook, there are many parallels in the development of shadow play and modern cinema, such as their use of music, voice, attempts to introduce colors and mass popularity.[16]
Richard Bradshaw is an Australian shadow puppeteer known for his characters like "Super Kangaroo".[17] Bradshaw's puppetry has been featured in television programs made byJim Henson as well as the long-running ABC children's TV seriesPlay School.
The Shadow Theatre of Anaphoria[18] (relocated to Australia from California) combines a mixture of reconstructed and original puppets with multiple sources of lights. The company is under the direction ofKraig Grady.
Australian company Shadowplay Studios' debut gameProjection: First Light was inspired by shadow puppetry and its art style replicates the traditional shadow play canvas using black props and sepia backgrounds. They visited Richard Bradshaw to gain more insight into shadow puppetry, to make their game more authentic and to get references for the game's shadow puppet characters.[19]
InCambodia, the shadow play is calledNang Sbek Thom,[20] or simply asSbek Thom (literally "large leather hide"),Sbek Touch ("small leather hide") andSbek Por ("colored leather hide").[21]
It is performed during sacred temple ceremonies, at private functions, and for the public in Cambodia's villages. The popular plays include theRamayana andMahabharata epics, as well as other Hindu myth and legends.[21] The performance is accompanied by apinpeat orchestra.[22]
TheSbek Thom is based on the Cambodian version of the Indian epicRamayana, an epic story about good and evil involvingRama,Sita,Lakshmana,Hanuman andRavana.[23] It is a sacred performance, embodying Khmer beliefs built on the foundations and mythologies ofBrahmanism andBuddhism.[23]
Cambodian shadow puppets are made of cowhide, and their size are usually quite large, depicting a whole scene, including its background. Unlike their Javanese counterparts, Cambodian shadow puppets are usually not articulated, rendering the figure's hands unmovable, and are left uncolored, retaining the original color of the leather. The main shadow puppet production center isRoluos near Siem Reap. Cambodian shadow puppetry is one of the cultural performances staged for tourists alongsideCambodian traditional dances.[citation needed]
TheSbek Thom figures are unlike puppets because they are large and heavy, with no moveable parts. TheSbek Touch, in contrast, are much smaller puppets with movable parts; their shows have been more popular.[23] TheSbek Thom shadow play involves many puppeteers dancing on the screen, each puppeteer playing one character of theRamayana, while separate narrators recite the story accompanied by an orchestra.[22]
| Chinese shadow puppetry | |
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| Country | China |
| Reference | 421 |
| Region | Asia and the Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2011 (6th session) |
| List | Representative |
 UNESCO Cultural Heritage | |
There are several myths and legends about the origins of shadow puppetry in China. The most famous one has it that Chinese shadow puppetry originated when the favoriteconcubine ofEmperor Wu of Han (156 BCE – 87 BCE) died and magician Shao-weng promised to raise her spirit. The emperor could see a shadow that looked like her move behind the curtains that the magician had placed around some lit torches. It is often told that the magician used a shadow puppet, but the original text inBook of Han gives no reason to believe in a relation to shadow puppetry.[24] Although there are many earlier records of all kinds of puppetry in China, clear mention of Chinese shadow play does not occur until theNorthern Song dynasty (960–1127). A 1235 book mentions that the puppets were initially cut out of paper, but later made of colored leather or parchment. The stories were mostly based on history and half fact half fiction, but comedies were also performed.[25]
Shadow play in China is calledpiyingxi. There are two distinct styles of shadow play: Luanzhou (North China) and Sichuan (South China). Within Sichuan, there are two styles: Chuanbei piyingxi (Northern Sichuan) and Chengdu piyingxi. Cities that are included in the Northern Sichuan are Bazhong, Nanchong, and Guangyuan.[26]
Shadow theatre became quite popular as early as theSong dynasty, when holidays were marked by the presentation of many shadow plays. During theMing dynasty there were 40 to 50 shadow showtroupes in the city ofBeijing alone.[citation needed] The earliest shadow theatre screens were made ofWashi paper. The storytellers generally used the art to tell events between various war kingdoms or stories ofBuddhist sources.[27] Today, puppets made ofleather and moved on sticks are used to tell dramatic versions of traditional fairy tales and myths. In regions such as Shaanxi, Shandong, Gansu, and Sichuan, young apprentices learn to carve shadow puppets from ox hide using traditional tools like half-moon knives and fine awls, preserving both craftsmanship and performance through hands-on practice.[28] InGansu province, it is accompanied byDaoqing music, while inJilin, accompanyingHuanglong music forms some of the basis of modern opera.[29]
Chinese shadow puppetry is shown in the 1994Zhang Yimou filmTo Live.
The origins ofTaiwan's shadow puppetry can be traced to theChaochow school of shadow puppet theatre. Commonly known as leather monkey shows or leather shows, the shadow plays were popular inTainan,Kaohsiung, andPingtung as early as theQing dynasty (1644–1911 A.D.). Older puppeteers estimate that there were at least seventy shadow puppet troupes in the Kaohsiung area alone in the closing years of the Qing.[30] Traditionally, the eight to twelve-inch puppet figures, and the stage scenery and props such as furniture, natural scenery, pagodas, halls, and plants, are all cut from leather. As shadow puppetry is based on light penetrating through a translucent sheet of cloth, the "shadows" are actually silhouettes seen by the audience in profile or face on. Taiwan's shadow plays are accompanied by Chaochow melodies which are often called "priest's melodies" owing to their similarity with the music used by Taoist priests at funerals. A large repertoire of some 300 scripts of the southern school of drama used in shadow puppetry and dating back to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries has been preserved in Taiwan and is considered to be a priceless cultural asset.
A number of terms are used to describe the different forms.[citation needed]
InPlato'sallegory of the cave (circa 380 BCE),Socrates described a kind of shadow play with figures made out of stone, wood, or other materials, presented to prisoners who in all of their life could see nothing more than the shadows on the wall in front of them. This was an imaginative illustration of ideas about the (false or limited) relations between knowledge, education, and a truthful understanding of reality. Plato compared a wall that screens off the people who carry the figures to the kind of partitions used by puppet (marionette) players to hide behind.[31] Apparently, there was no existing form of shadow theatre known inancient Greece that Socrates/Plato could refer to.
Shadow plays started spreading throughout Europe at the end of the 17th century, probably via Italy. It is known that several Italian showmen performed in Germany, France and England during this period.[32]
In 1675 German polymath and philosopherGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz imagined a kind of world exhibition that would show all kinds of new inventions and spectacles. In a handwritten document he supposed it should include shadow theatre.[33][34]
French missionaries brought the shadow show from China toFrance in 1767 and put on performances inParis andMarseille, causing quite a stir.[citation needed] In time, theombres chinoises (French for "Chinese shadows") with local modification and embellishment, became theombres françaises and struck root in the country.[citation needed] The popularity ofombres chinoises reflected thechinoiserie fashion of the days.[32]
French showmanFrançois Dominique Séraphin first presented his shadow spectacle in ahôtel particulier inVersailles in 1771. He would go on to perform at thePalace of Versailles in front of royalty. In 1784 Séraphin moved to Paris, performing his shows at his permanent theatre in the newly openedPalais-Royal from 8 September 1784. The performances would adapt to the political changes and survived theFrench Revolution. Séraphin developed the use ofclockwork mechanisms to automate the show. His nephew took over the show after Séraphin's death in 1800 and it was continued by his heirs until the theatre closed in 1870.[32][35][36][37]
In 1775, Ambrogio (also known as Ambroise and Ambrose) staged ambitious shows in Paris and London.[32]
The art was a popular entertainment in Paris during the 19th century, especially in the famous Paris nightclub district ofMontmartre.[38] The cabaretLe Chat noir ("The Black Cat") produced 45[39]Théatre d'ombres shows between 1885 and 1896 under the management ofRodolphe Salis. Behind a screen on the second floor of the establishment, the artistHenri Rivière worked with up to 20 assistants in a large,oxy-hydrogen back-lit performance area and used a double opticallantern to project backgrounds. Figures were originally cardboard cut-outs, but were replaced with zinc figures since 1887. Various artists took part in the creation, includingSteinlen,Adolphe Willette andAlbert Robida.Caran d'Ache designed circa 50 cut-outs for the very popular 1888 showL'Epopée.Musée d'Orsay has circa 40 original zinc figures in its collection. Other cabarets would produce their own versions; theombres evolved into numerous theatrical productions and had a major influence onphantasmagoria.[32][40][41][42]
In Italy, theMuseum of Precinema collezione Minici Zotti inPadua houses a collection of 70 French shadow puppets, similar to those used in the cabaret Le Chat Noir, together with an original theatre and painted backdrops, as well as two magic lanterns for projecting scenes. So far, the shadow plays identified areLa Marche a l'étoile (introduced by Henri Rivière),Le Sphinx (introduced by Amédée Vignola),L'Âge d'or andLe Carneval de Venise. The shadow puppets were presumably created for a tour in France or abroad at the end of the 19th century.[citation needed]
Nowadays, several theatre companies in France are developing the practice of shadow puppets: Le Théâtre des Ombres,[43] Le Théâtre du Petit Miroir, Le Théâtre Les Chaises, and La Loupiote.
Shadow puppets are an ancient part of India's culture, particularly regionally as thekeelu bomme andTholu bommalata ofAndhra Pradesh, theTogalu gombeyaata inKarnataka, thecharma bahuli natya inMaharashtra, theRavana chhaya inOdisha, theTholpavakoothu inKerala andTamil Nadu.[7][3][44] Shadow puppet play is also found in pictorial traditions in India, such as temple mural painting, loose-leaf folio paintings, and the narrative paintings.[45] Dance forms such as theChhau ofOdisha literally mean "shadow".[46] The shadow theatre dance drama theatre are usually performed on platform stages attached toHindu temples, and in some regions these are calledKoothu Madams orKoothambalams.[47] In many regions, the puppet drama play is performed by itinerant artist families on temporary stages during major temple festivals.[48] Legends from the Hindu epicsRamayana and theMahabharata dominate their repertoire.[48] However, the details and the stories vary regionally.[49][50]
During the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century of the colonial era, Indologists believed that shadow puppet plays had become extinct in India, though mentioned in its ancient Sanskrit texts.[48] In the 1930s and thereafter, states Stuart Blackburn, these fears of its extinction were found to be false as evidence emerged that shadow puppetry had remained a vigorous rural tradition in central Kerala mountains, most of Karnataka, northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and southern Maharashtra.[48] The Marathi people, particularly of low caste, had preserved and vigorously performed the legends of Hindu epics as a folk tradition. The importance of Marathi artists is evidenced, states Blackburn, from the puppeteers speaking Marathi as their mother tongue in many non-Marathi speaking states of India.[48]
According to Beth Osnes, thetholu bommalata shadow puppet theatre dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and has attracted patronage ever since.[51] The puppets used in atholu bommalata performance, states Phyllis Dircks, are "translucent, lusciously multicolored leather figures four to five feet tall, and feature one or two articulated arms".[52] The process of making the puppets is an elaborate ritual, where the artist families in India pray, go into seclusion, produce the required art work, then celebrate the "metaphorical birth of a puppet" with flowers and incense.[53]
Thetholu pava koothu of Kerala uses leather puppets whose images are projected on a backlit screen. The shadows are used to creatively express characters and stories in theRamayana. A complete performance of the epic can take forty-one nights, while an abridged performance lasts as few as seven days.[54] One feature of thetholu pava koothu show is that it is a team performance of puppeteers, while other shadow plays such as thewayang of Indonesia are performed by a single puppeteer for the sameRamayana story.[54] There are regional differences within India in the puppet arts. For example, women play a major role in shadow play theatre in most parts of India, except in Kerala and Maharashtra.[48] Almost everywhere, except Odisha, the puppets are made from tanned deer skin, painted and articulated. Translucent leather puppets are typical in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, while opaque puppets are typical in Kerala and Odisha. The artist troupes typically carry over a hundred puppets for their performance in rural India.[48]
Shadow puppet theatre is calledwayang inIndonesia,[55] wherein a dramatic story is told through shadows thrown by puppets and sometimes combined with human characters.[56] Wayang is an ancient form of storytelling that renowned for its elaborate puppets and complex musical styles.[57] The earliest evidence is from the late 1st millennium CE, in medieval-era texts and archeological sites.[58][59] Around 860 CE an Old Javanese charter issued by Maharaja Sri Lokapala mentions three sorts of performers: atapukan, aringgit, and abanol. Ringgit is described in an 11th-century Javanese poem as a leather shadow figure.[8] Unlike India's shadow plays that incorporated little to no musical performance, Indonesiawayang includes an assemble of gamelan music.[7]
Wayang kulit, a style ofwayang shadow play, is particularly popular inJava andBali. The term derived from the wordwayang literally means "shadow" or "imagination" inJavanese; it also connotes "spirit". The wordkulit means "skin", as the material from which the puppet is made is thin perforated leather sheets made from buffalo skin.
Performances of shadow puppet theater in Bali are typically at night, lasting until dawn.[56] The completewayang kulit troupes includedalang (puppet master),nayaga (gamelan players), andsinden (female choral singer). Some of thenayaga also perform as male choral singers. Thedalang (puppet master) performs thewayang behind the cotton screen illuminated by oil lamp or modern halogen lamp, creating visual effects similar to animation. The flat puppet has moveable joints that are animated by hand, using rods connected to the puppet. The handle of the rod is made of carved buffalo horn. On November 7, 2003,UNESCO designatedwayang kulit from Indonesia as one of theMasterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[57]
InMalaysia, shadow puppet plays are also known aswayang kulit. InMalay,wayang means "theater", whilekulit means "skin/leather" and refers to the puppets that are made out of leather. There are four types of shadow theaters in Malaysia:wayang kulit Jawa, wayang kulit Gedek, wayang kulit Melayu, andwayang kulit Siam. Wayang kulit Jawa andwayang kulit Melayu can be traced back to Javanese Shadows whilewayang kulit Gedek and wayang kulit Siam are traced back to Southern Thailand's shadow theaters.[7] Stories presented are usuallymythical and morality tales. There is an educational moral to the plays, which usually portray a battle. Malay shadow plays are sometimes considered one of the earliest examples ofanimation. Thewayang kulit in the northern states of Malaysia such asKelantan is influenced by and similar to Thai shadow puppets, while thewayang kulit in the southern Malay peninsula, especially inJohor, is borrowed fromJavaneseIndonesianwayang kulit with slight differences in the story and performance.
The puppets are made primarily ofleather and manipulated with sticks orbuffalo horn handles. Shadows are cast using anoil lamp or, in modern times, a halogen light, onto acotton cloth background. They are often associated withgamelan music.
Shadow theatre inThailand is callednang yai (which uses large and steady figures); in the south there is a tradition callednang talung (which uses small, movable figures).[7]Nang yai puppets are normally made ofcowhide andrattan and are carried by people in front of the screen compared to behind it.[60]Nang talung shadow play usually occur at domestic rituals and ceremonies or at commercial and temple fairs but they are starting to occur on Thai television.[60]
There are different kind of performers in Thailand's shadow play.Nang samai performers are more modern in terms of music and dialogue whileNang booraan performers are more traditional.[61] Performances are normally accompanied by a combination ofsongs andchants. Moreover, there are specific types of performances in Thailand that are political than theatrical like which are callednang kaanmuang.[61]
Performances in Thailand were temporarily suspended in 1960 due to a fire at the national theatre.Nang drama has influenced modernThai cinema, including filmmakers likeCherd Songsri andPayut Ngaokrachang.[62]
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A more bawdy comedy tradition of shadow play was widespread throughout theOttoman Empire, possibly since the late 14th century. It was centered around the contrasting interaction between the figuresKaragöz and Hacivat: an unprincipled peasant and his fussy, educated companion. Together with other characters they represented all the major social groups in Ottoman culture.[63][64] The theatres had an enormous following and would take place in coffee houses and in rich private houses and even performed before the sultan. Every quarter of the city had its own Karagöz.[65]
The Karagöz theatre consisted of a three sided booth covered with a curtain printed with branches and roses and a white cotton screen by about three feet by four which was inserted in the front. The performance had a three man orchestra who sat at the foot of a small raised stage where they would play for the audience. The show would start when the puppet master lit the oil lamp.[66] The show could be introduced by a singer, accompanied by a tambourine player.[67] The background and scenery would sometimes include moving ships, riders moving on horseback, swaying palm trees and even dragons. The sound effects included songs and various voices.[66]
Puppets were made to be about 15 inches or 35–40 centimeters high and oiled to make them look translucent. The puppets were made of either horse, water buffalo or calf skin. They had movable limbs and were jointed with waxed thread at the neck, arms, waist and knees and manipulated from rods in their back and held by the finger of the puppet master. The hide is worked until it is semi-transparent; then it is colored, resulting in colorful projections.[65][67] Karagöz theatre was also adapted in Egypt and North Africa.[32]
In the 1910s, theGerman animatorLotte Reiniger pioneeredsilhouette animation as a format, whereby shadow-play-like puppets are filmedframe-by-frame. This technique has been kept alive by subsequent animators and is still practised today, thoughcel animation andcomputer animation has also been used to imitate the look of shadow play and silhouette animation. By the 1920s, shadow puppetry had breached the world ofGerman Expressionism, through the silent filmWarning Shadows.
Traditional Chinese shadow puppetry was brought to audiences in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s through the efforts ofPauline Benton. Contemporary artists such asAnnie Katsura Rollins have perpetuated the medium, sometimes combining the form with Western theatre.[68]
Shadow theatre is still popular in many parts of Asia.Prahlad Acharya is one famous India]n magician who incorporates it into his performances.
In the 2010s, performer Tom McDonagh introduced3-D shadow puppets and the use of laser-cut objects.[69]
It also appears occasionally in Westernpopular culture; for example:
The origins of Taiwan shadow puppetry trace back to the 17th or early 18th Centuries. When General Koxinga (1624–1662) expelled Dutch occupation forces from Taiwan, growing numbers of settlers crossed the Strait to the island. Among them were shadow puppeteers from Chaochow in Kwangtung Province. And in the interstices of time, their artform took root and gradually developed into an indispensable element of rural life in southern Taiwan. The early troupes of shadow puppeteers concentrated in the Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung areas. According to contemporary shadow-puppet master Chang Tien-pao, his grandfather once told him that in the waning years of the Ching Dynasty (1644–1911), there were forty-odd puppet troupes in Kangshan, and thirty-odd in the single village of Hsialiao, both in Kaohsiung County—an astounding popularity.
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