ABSTRACT
In this book the shadow theatre in Bali is described and its place in the society and culture explored. It is so called, as during the night performance puppets cast vibrant shadows against a white cotton screen which is illuminated by a flickering coconut-oil lamp. The lamp hangs over a cross-legged puppeteer, or dalang, who is sitting in an enclosed, raised booth, facing the screen and at arm's length from it (see p. 129). The dalang is also one of the consecrated priests in the community. He manipulates the puppets while narrating a story from the sacred classical literature, so bringing to life mythic beings of both the natural and supernatural worlds. Musicians, who sit behind him in the booth, accompany the story with the clear, sweet tones of a small percussion orchestra. Through the rhythms of the shadows, the spectators on the other side of the screen from the puppeteer are drawn into other ways of seeing, or comprehending reality.
