Wayang Kulit is a popular shadow puppet show in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, especially those in Kota Bharu, Kelantan and Terengganu, and also in Johor. The origin of the theatre is still remained a mistery, but it was brought to Malaya hundreds of years ago.
There used to be four main varieties of the form in this country: the Wayang Kulit Siam of Kelantan; the Wayang Gedek, performed by the Thai communities of Kedah and Perlis; the Wayang Kulit Jawa, performed by the Javanese communities in Selangor and Johor; and the Wayang Kulit Melayu, performed by the Javanese communities of Terengganu. Today, only the first two are performed.
One man is responsible for breathing life into this array of characters: the master puppeteer and storyteller known as the Tok Dalang.
As a solo performer who representing all the heroes and heroines in the story, Dalang is the key of the performance - a masterly producer, conductor, puppeteer, historian, wise man, commedian, and the story-teller. Apart from this, Dalang also knows most of the music instruments meanwhile as the bomoh (Malay traditional practitioner). In the few hours of show, Dalang doesn’t only play the puppets, but also translates the voices of all the roles in the story apart from giving hints to the gamelan, sings and reads out loud. In some stories, the Dalang even uses ancient or classic dialect which in fact has long lost in the flow of time.
He will breath new life into each re-telling of those ancient tales, continually reaffirming the currency and relevance of the harmony of life, the balance between antagonist and protagonist, giving a little homour, making the whole performance alive. Beside the usual story line, some good Dalangs react things that happen the day or make a joke as to cheer the audience. Atmosphere and the emotion of the hall are controlled and manipulated by the Dalang in his rising and falling voice. Sometime when it comes to an excited point, the hall could be in a tumult while come to the sadness plot, you might hear the sound of sneezing or see weeping eyes.
To keep up with the times, today's Tok Dalangs do not only use the Kelantanese dialect but also mainstream Bahasa Malaysia, a few English words, the occasional Bollywood song, and even familiar tunes from TV serials to spice up their performance. The best thing is they always improvise as they perform, so audiences don't get a fixed dialogue or narration with every show.
