Shadow theater

The shadow theater consists in projecting on a screen of the shades produced by silhouettes which one interposes in the beam of light which lights the screen. Most known are probably the Chinese Ombres PiYing and the Wayang kulit of Indonesia.

History

Just like his/her cousin the Puppet, the Shadow theater has origins which are lost in the mists of time. The tradition makes China its birthplace (famous “the Chinese Ombre”), but certain authors rather locate it in India. It is from there that with the favor of the great migrations it would have gained the Close East.

Used initially with fine nuns (to evoke the heart of dead) and of exorcism, it quickly became the particularly tempting shape of popular spectacle, putting in scene as well great poems epic as of the political satires or grivoises, like celebrates it Karagöz of Turkey for example. The tradition of the Shadow theater is still long-lived in Asia (China, Kampuchea, Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Bali), in Greece, Turkey, and in a weaker measurement in Western Europe. In France several companies of theater specialized in this practice. One can quote in particular: Amoros and Augustin, the Small light, the Theater of the Shades, Showmen of Shades, the Firefly Dancing or the Theater of the Small Mirror.

Example

The shade projected offers a clean charm which singularly distinguishes it from the other types of animations. It lets the imagination of the spectators indeed develop and makes it possible the latter to interpret them same certain facts, a little as for old silent films. As that which looks at the spectacle sees only the shade of the characters and the decorations, its imagination fills the missing visual informations, from where the produced effect. One can quote another field where this aspect is found: literature. A novel forces the users indeed to represent a scene, the features of a character in his head. A speaking example is found in the work of an amateur impassioned on the bond: The Sunshade Sunshade

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