MUSIC

INDONESIAN
THEATER
Shadow Puppet Theater is a
well-known Indonesian theater
popular not only in their own
country but spread in several
countries around the world
 WAYANG
KULIT

• (in Central Java) is one of the oldest

Indonesian continuous traditions of storytelling in
Theater the world which includes the use of
puppet materials and background
musical accompaniment to make it
interesting to the audience
Wayang is an Indonesian
and Malay word for
“theater”.
When the term is used to refer
to kinds of Puppet Theater,
sometimes the puppet itself is
referred to as wayang.
Kulit means skin and refers to
the leather construction of the
puppets that are carefully-cut
into a very fine tools and
supported with carefully-
shaped buffalo horn handles
and control rods.
The
PERFORMANCE
 The PERFORMANCE
• The audience is the most important person
in a Wayang Kulit performance.
• The dalang prepares all the materials used
like the cloth and the light for the shadow.
• The puppet on the right side signifies the
Wayang good character, on the left hand side, the
Kulit bad.
• The open space between them, about 2
meters wide, represents the stage.
The
DALANG
 DALANG
• is the puppeteer
• is characterized by his being
creative, humorous, and flexible
• manipulates the puppets, sings,
Wayang and taps out signals to the
Kulit
orchestra
• speaks the parts of all the
characters
The use of voice interchangeably
is the main ability of a dalang to
give more life to a different
character.
The dalang is the chief performer
who told a story to the
accompaniment of gamelan
ensemble.
Wayang Kulit was
performed in royal court
and widely performed in
public on religious
occasions
The Music:
GAMELAN
 GAMELAN Ensemble

Wayang
Kulit • is comprised mainly by bronze
percussion instruments augmented by
other percussion instruments, strings,
and a flute.
 GAMELAN Ensemble
1. Saron – xylophone of heavy
bronze bars

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
2. Gender – bronze
xylophone with
resonance
chambers
Wayang beneath
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
3. Bonang – set of bronze bowls

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
4. Gong and Kempul – hanging gongs

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
5. Kenong and Ketuk – single
inverted bronze bowl

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
6. Gambang – wooden xylophone

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
7. Rebab – two-stringed fiddle

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
8. Suling – flute

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
9. Kendang – horizontal drum beat
with the fingers on both ends

Wayang
Kulit
 GAMELAN Ensemble
10.Tjelempung – a zither of thirteen
double strings

Wayang
Kulit
SULUK
 SULUK
• The dalang sings the mood songs
(suluk) at regular intervals during
performance.
• Suluk are never accompanied by
Wayang the full gamelan ensemble.
Kulit
• Often a single instrument
accompanies the singer, never
more than three or four.
THANKS!