What are the puppets made from?
Figures belong to set types: refined heroes, demons, servants and comic clowns. Their silhouettes follow conventions, so a viewer who has watched a few scenes can tell a hero from a demon before anyone speaks. The character is named in the performance, and the story carries the meaning.
What does the dalang do during a show?
The dalang is the puppeteer, the storyteller and the conductor in one person. He or she voices every character, often changing voice several times in a single exchange, moves the puppets, and signals the gamelan with a wooden block and spoken cues. Some passages are sung or chanted. The pace of the music follows the dalang, so a battle scene or a comic interlude changes tempo because the performer has changed approach.
Because one person carries the whole performance, the dalang’s skill shows most in the transitions between scenes. Listen for those moments when the puppets are swapped and the music shifts. They are the easiest part of a show to miss if you are looking at your phone.
Which side of the screen should you sit on?
| Position | What you see | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front, on the shadow side | Dark silhouettes against a bright screen | Following the story and the shapes of the scenes | Paint and cut detail are lost |
| Behind the screen | Coloured, painted puppets, the dalang and the musicians | Seeing how the performance is worked | Figures appear reversed, so left and right are the wrong way round |
A first-time viewer usually does better on the front side, where the shadows give the story its shape. Ask whether seats behind the screen are open before you go, because in some shows they are not. Whichever side you pick, stay seated.
What should you avoid during a show?
Do not touch the screen or any puppet. Puppets are worked by one person and easily damaged, and a bent arm or torn joint can stop a scene.
Photography is the most common problem. Flash interrupts the dalang’s concentration and washes out the lit screen. Ask before you take any picture, and if the answer is no, keep the phone away. If the performer is free after the show, ask then whether you may take a photograph of the puppets.
How long does a show run, and how do you choose one?
Traditional performances could run for many hours, sometimes through a whole night. The length of a visitor show varies from one performance to another, so ask how long it runs when you book, not when you arrive. Get to the venue early enough to see the gamelan set up, because the music is part of the performance and not a background to it.
A show built for guests may explain the story at the start and keep the scenes short. That is a fair choice for a visitor. Ask whether the performance is led by a dalang and whether the musicians are a standing group, since those details tell you how much of the show is live.
What makes a wayang kulit puppet worth buying?
Paper prints of wayang figures are sold alongside real puppets. A print is a picture of a puppet, not a working object, so it should be bought as a picture. If you want a puppet, look at the perforations first. Hand-cut work often has small, slightly uneven variations in its lines, while machine-cut work can repeat the same pattern identically across the figure.
Check the joints. The arms should move freely from a fixed pivot, and the figure should stand when held by its rod. Ask what the hide is made from, and whether the paint is applied by hand. A seller who knows the answer will tell you the carver’s method without fuss.
Pack a flat puppet between two stiff sheets so the arms and pierced edges do not bend. Keep it out of direct sun, and do not fold it. The markets page explains how to compare stalls and bargain politely, and the masks page covers the other carved theatre objects you may see at the same stalls.
Where to go next
- Start with the gamelan page if you want to know what the music is and where it is played.