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Reviewed by:
  • On Wayang: My Life with Shadows dir. by Larry Reed and Gina Liebrecht
  • Kathy Foley
ON WAYANG: MY LIFE WITH SHADOWS. Produced and directed by Larry Reed and Gina Liebrecht. San Francisco: Shadowlight Productions. DVD. 30 min. $30.

This documentary is both the personal statement of Shadowlight Theatre director Larry Reed as an intercultural performer and a good introduction to Balinese wayang, noting changes in this important shadow theatre since the 1970s. Reed’s journey from being interested in the idea of shadows, to his efforts to become a Balinese shadow master, to his experimental works in large form shadow theatre demonstrate an interesting progression from emulation to dedication to innovation of new shadow style—one that a number of young Balinese from Institute Seni Indonesia (Indonesian Arts Institute) in Denpasar have embraced. Reed’s early work, a 1979 fiction film (Shadowmaster) with his Balinese partners, is covered as well as his many later productions in the United States and Bali. Much of the footage used is taken from that feature film or documentation of those productions (which Shadowlight sells on its website, www.shadowlight.org). But the cutting is more compact, making the work an accessible overview for the beginning student. The half hour duration would allow time for viewing and discussion in any university class on Asian theatre or intercultural performance.

Other short clips include a thirty-six-minute wayang demonstration with Sija, a major dalang and contemporary innovator. The short performance has all the major elements in a wayang: the dance of the tree of life, the breathing of life into the puppets by rocking the lamp behind the puppets to be used, a meeting scene, a love scene, the appearances of clowns of the right (Twalen and Merdah, who serve the heroes) and left (Delem and Sangut, who [End Page 324] serve the antagonists), and a battle scene. This short introduction could allow students to understand major components of a Balinese puppet show. The story tells of a ceremony that the Pandawa (heroes of the Mahabharata) are holding and the efforts of their Kurawa opponents to break up the event by sending in demons. The occasional use of a split screen shows the shadow side and the manipulator’s side at the same time. This helps the viewer understand what transpires on both sides of the screen. Subtitles give access to the narrative, which clarifies the importance of welcoming demons, as well as honored guests, in a ceremonial context.

Another feature on the disk is a condensed ten-minute presentation of a temple ceremony from the village of Bona in 2004. Instead of an all-day or multiday event, we speed through. But all the elements are there: Little girls dance a female ceremonial dance, there is a baris (male dance, here done by a young boy), villagers carry offerings, the old and young dance, wayang lemah (daytime puppet show without a screen telling Bima Suwarga—the story of how Bima redeems his parents from hell) plays, and a topeng (mask) dancer goes through the opening character dances and the clowning of the panasar (attendants). The Sidha Karya mask (a demonic-looking old man who it is said was once excluded from a temple ceremony but eventually was welcomed and honored as the cousin of the king) ends this topeng at the same time the priest and his wife on their dais reach the climax of their ceremony. This temple ceremony clip alongside readings might be useful in anthropology classes. For the Sidha Karya mask, essays by John Emigh (1979; 1996) or myself with others (Foley and Sedana 2005; Kodi, Sedana, and Foley 2005) could be effective in introducing Western students to aspects of Balinese ritual performance. Mask dance and puppetry play a role in moving the attention away from the priest—the performing arts divert both the demonic forces and the worldly human viewer, keeping them entertained. Performances enchant so that the ritual can go forward unimpeded.

The final feature is a slide show of a puppet box, including images of better-known figures. This would help a beginner memorize iconography of a Balinese puppet set.

There is no doubt that viewing this...

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