Malaysia

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Malayan shadow theatre exists in the Kelantan region, in the north of the country, alongside the border with Thailand. This region was part of the kingdom of Shrivijaya, that once extended from Java to Ceylon and Cambodia but which fell into decline in the 13th century. Afterwards, the region fell under the power of the Patani kingdom and was on various occasions a vassal of Siam, which explains the different foreign cultural influences. There were two types of shadow theatre in existence: wayang purwa, which resembles the Javanese style and more common in the courts of the nobility but which has in the meanwhile disappeared; and wayang siam, heavily influenced by Thai theatre. The latter lives on in the villages where it is performed on a small closed stage. The role of the dalang and the theatrical technique are similar to those of Java even though the buffalo or bovine leather figures display their own particular style: they are more simplistic than those of Indonesia and have only one jointed arm. There are two clowns, Dogol and Walong, who, like Semar, switch between playing the roles of clowns and divinities and who thus possess magic powers. The repertoire primarily draws upon the Ramayana while also including episodes that are clear adaptations with the story of Panji, the hero who, after going through many adventures, ends up winning the hand of Princess Bindumati. The narrative comprises an alternation between texts in rhyming prose, which the dalang recites in Malay, and dialogues expressed in the local dialect. These are joined by pieces inspired by local legends along the lines of the Thai Nang Talung, with modern personalities correspondingly making an appearance, which are actually cut out of Rhodoid plastic in contrast to the leather of times past. The orchestra includes an oboe, two ceramic drums, two doubled sided drums, two large drums in buffalo skin, two large suspended gongs, two horizontal bulb shaped gongs and pair of small cymbals. 《The role of music is still secondary. Monotone, and with a restricted number of themes, the music serves only to illustrate the action taking place over the course of an episode while all of the interest in the spectacle stems from animating the puppets》 (Jacques Brunet, Wayang Kulit de Kelantan, Théâtre d’Ombres de Malaisie, IIECM, Berlin, 1971). Before the performance, the dalang makes an offering of rice, candles and incense to both ancestors and to the spirits that are to appear on the screen and speaking in their name. In times gone by, these performances were held to protect the village but over the course of time they have lost this role of ritual to instead become a period of diversion and broadly characterised by their comic dimension.