Javanese Wayang Kulit

We love puppets. This began in Java where we first discovered the fantastic Javanese wayang. These shadow puppets shows are a cross between the tales of the Bible or Shakespeare and the comedy and satire of modern stand up. The puppets are loved deeply by the people and the stories and characters are an important part of the Javanese psyche.

Puppet shows last for 9 hours and are performed by puppet masters called dalangs - the most famous of whom are huge celebrities. The puppet master sits cross legged in front of the screen with his puppets ranged on either side of him, their buffalo horn sticks stuck into a fresh banana tree trunk. Behind him sit the gamelan orchestra and female singers who accompany the action throughout the night. The audience feel free to lie down and doze, eat or wander off and come back at any time through the night. The invited guests will sit behind the screen and watch the shadows, while everyone else in the village will sit on the other side and watch the dalang and the gamelan players. The story follows well known episodes from the Mahabarata an epic tale which was introduced to Java from Southern India in the 12th century.

Puppets for sale

We always keep a selection of these wonderful leather wayang kulit shadow puppets - both new and antique, in stock. We usually buy several puppets from a whole collection as they are sold only when a dalang retires and his son, who will take over, has his own set made. We also keep a selection of wayang golek the wooden rod puppets which are used in parts of Java. Again there are dozens of characters from the Ramayana and Mahabarata stories and their fantastic carved head-dresses, beautiful costumes and wonderful action make them lovely to look at and very easy to use. We sometimes have some shadow puppets from Turkey in our shop. These are small, brightly coloured leather puppets which tell the stories of Karagöz and Hacivat and rip roaring tales of old Istanbul. We may also have beautiful, expressive Burmese marionettes with hand carved wooden heads and bodies dressed in gorgeous spangled costumes.

Workshops

Jim is very happy to come to and visit groups of children or adults for half day or full day workshops. These include a look at our collection of shadow puppets from Indonesia, China, Turkey, Thailand and Greece and an explanation of some of the characters and the stories they tell. The session then continues with a chance to try out the puppets with screens, scenery and lights to create short performances. In the full day workshop you will be able to make your own shadow puppets and scenery. Please get in touch if you are interested in booking a workshop.