Puppet Skin (Wayang Kulit), Java Performance Art Masterpieces

Night life in Yogyakarta would feel if you miss it by looking at the shadow puppets(Wayang Kulit). Gamelan lively rhythms combined with a melodious voice sinden will not let you fall in sleepiness. The story that brought the mastermind will bring you to come in late as to be one character in the story that was delivered. You too will soon realize how great Javanese culture in the past.

Shadow puppet show is an art that has been aged more than half a millennium. Its emergence has its own story, related to the entry of Javanese Islam. One member of the Wali Songo created by adopting Wayang Beber that developed in the heyday of Hindu-Buddhist. The adoption was done because the puppet already attached to the Javanese to become an excellent medium for spreading propaganda of Islam, while Islam prohibits art form. As a result, shadow puppets created where people can only see shadows.

Leather puppet played by a man who would be called the public's greatest entertainer in the world. How not, during the night, the mastermind behind the whole character actor playing shadow puppets who are the puppets made of buffalo skin with motifs decorated carving handicrafts decoration (carving the skin). He had to change the character of the sound, changing intonation, removing jokes and even sing. To turn the atmosphere, the puppeteer (dalang) who is assisted by musicians playing gamelan and sinden who sing Javanese songs.

The characters in the puppet the whole number in the hundreds. The puppets that are not played are put in a banana stem which is near the mastermind. When played, the puppets will appear as shadows on the white screen in front of the mastermind. The shadow is created because every puppet show using oil lamps as lighting that helps reflecting the puppets being played.

Each puppet presents a different story or play. Variety of play is divided into 4 categories: standard play, play carangan, play spin and play writing. The play has a story that grip entirely sourced in a library puppet plays while in outline only carangan only sourced the library puppet. Play spin the story did not originate on the puppet, but wearing the appropriate places in the library puppet, while the essay is entirely off the plays.

Puppet story rooted in some older books such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Kings and Purwakanda Library. Now, there are also books containing composition plays and essays are for hundreds of years has been appreciated by the public Abhimanyu Kerem, Doraweca, Suryatmaja Thieves and so on. Among all the old books were used, the Book of Purwakanda is the most frequently used by puppeteers from Yogyakarta Kingdom. Leather puppet begins when the mastermind has issued the mountains. An all-night wayang performance Yogyakarta style is divided into 3 rounds which has 7 rows (scene) and 7 scenes of war. The first round, called pathet lasem, has 3 rows and 2 scenes that accompanied the war-gending gending pathet lasem. Pathet Sanga the second half has 2 rows and 2 scenes of war, while the Pathet Manura the third round has 2 rows and 3 scenes of war. One of the most anticipated lots of people on each puppet is because that presents a typical Java joke-joke.

Sasono Hinggil located in north square-South Square is the most frequent events held all-night wayang performances, usually held every second and fourth weeks starting at 21.00 pm. The other place is Sri Maganti Ward located at Sultan's Palace. Puppet Skin on the ward was staged for 2 hours starting at 10:00 am every Saturday with tickets USD 5000.00.