Shadow puppet shows (known as wayang kulit) were once a very popular form of entertainment in Malaysia. In these shows the puppets were kept behind a screen and the audience only got to see the puppet's shadow, I guess calling them shadow puppet shows made sense!
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A shadow puppet of Hanuman. Look closely at all the detail that has been carved
out of his clothing. He must have looked pretty impressive as a shadow. |
You have to be very careful when you make a shadow puppet. If you want the audience to see your puppet's face you can't paint on features like eyes, a nose and a mouth, because the paint can't be seen through the screen. Puppet makers used leather to make their shadow puppets, and they would carve out all the details using special tools. If you take a close look at the puppets here you can see how carefully the details are carved out, even things like hair and scales would be carved out so they would be seen by the audience. The puppet makers would then paint the puppets just to decorate them, but during the show this paint isn't seen and doesn't help the actual performance. The puppet would also have moving arms and legs that would be attached to its body by special clips.
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| The puppeteers would use special sticks attached to the arms and legs to move them around. |
Have you ever made a shadow puppet? Get an empty cereal box and try making a shadow puppet of your favourite animal. Get an adult to help you test it out (you will need a flashlight and a white sheet or t-shirt to do this) Go back and add the details that are missing once you test it out. If you get really good at making shadow puppets you should put on a show for your friends and family. Have fun!
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