ABSTRACT
People who stay up all night know that the different periods of the night feel very different, give rise to different moods…. This experience is an important part of the theatre of Southeast Asia, a part of its message as well as a theatrical medium: the withdrawal into a spiritual wilderness which is enacted in the play and simultaneously experienced as the darkness deepens and the world changes…. I have discussed this point with several Javanese musicians and actors. Most of them agreed with me that the periods of the night are very important to the proper presentation of the wayang…. Can a permanent, indoor, quiet, nine to eleven urban theatre ever mean the same thing as the theatre I have been writing about? I don’t think it can: it can only be an extension of the day, reflecting rational daytime concerns and sunshine magic.
