By Randy Baker
Directed by Jeremy Skidmore and James Hart
January 17 – February 7, 2004
World Premiere
Ethan Brooks, an American academic and a skeptic, returns to South East Asia, where he grew up, to study the dying art form of Malay shadow puppetry. Questions emerge surrounding the disappearance of one of the few remaining puppet masters, and Brooks sets off to find answers in the remote villages of Malaysia. The fables of the old puppeteer begin to mingle with Brooks’ story as he searches and begins to reconcile his own shadows.
In alternating scenes an actual shadow puppet play intersects with the modern narrative. Based loosely on the Hindu epic The Ramayana, it tells of a great battle that will bring either the birth of a hero or the death of a legend.
To hear artistic director and playwright Randy Baker talk about the project on NPR, click HERE!
(The interview is the fourth from the top)
PRODUCED BY Jenny McConnell and Randy Baker
FEATURING Anne Bowles, Frank Britton, Franklin Dam, Jennifer Knight, Jason Lott, Scott McCormick, Josh Skidmore, Meg Taintor, Al Twanmo and Paul MacWhorter.
DESIGNED BY John Burkland (Lighting Design), David McKeever (Sound Design/Composer), Matt Soule (Set Design), Debra Kim Sivigny (Costume Design), Frank Labovitz (Asst. Costume Design)
STAGE MANAGED BY Jordan Sudermann
PUPPETS DESIGNED BY Debra Kim Sivigny
PUPPETS DEVELOPED BY James Hart, Debra Kim Sivigny, Frank Labovitz and the cast
Wayang Kulit: Malaysian Shadow Puppets
Similar to shadow puppet traditions of other South East Asian countries, in particular Indonesia, Wayang Kulit is performed by puppets silhouetted against a translucent screen. A gamelan orchestra of gongs, percussion and reed instruments traditionally accompanies the performance. The Ramayana is the main literary source of Malay Wayang Kulit. Village stories, political messages and general improvisation are also incorporated into performances.
Wayang Kulit is one of the oldest traditions of storytelling in the world. The puppeteer, or dalang, manipulates over one hundred puppets in a single evening, creating an environment that connects ancient practices and legends with his contemporary audience. In the world he creates, fate controls the lives of men and women whose destinies are all impossibly intertwined and dependent on one another. Told in shadow, the form is in constant balance – light and dark, refined and rough, heaven and earth. The shadows are the souls and the screen is heaven.
In Malaysia, Wayang Kulit and traditional arts are threatened by Western encroachment, religious fundamentalism and cultural apathy. Fifty years ago, there were well over one hundred master dalangs; today there are fewer than half a dozen.
AFTER THE FLOOD was sponsored in part by Pete Miller & Sara Cormeny.