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Costumes, Masks and Puppets | African Masks | Bunraku Puppetry | Shadow Puppetry
Julie Taymor Biography | Sets, Lighting and Special Effects
 We
have always been fascinated with shadows. Shadows thrown by a campfire
can appear to be monsters; fingers twisted in a specific way in front of
a light beam can create intricate animal shapes. In shadow puppetry, the
audience only sees the shadows of the puppets, thrown onto a screen by a
light or a fire. Shadow puppetry seems to be thousands of years old;
many think it originated in Greece, although
 Chinese records show forms
of shadow puppetry being performed 2000 years ago. In Indonesian shadow
puppetry, called the wayang kulit, intricate flat puppets made of wood
and animal hide are shown before a muslin screen, usually telling
stories from Hindu mythology. In Java, audience members sit on both
sides of the screen either to watch the shadows, or to see the
puppets and the manipulating puppeteers.
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