Shakespeare in the Shadows

Puppets from "Macbeth in the Shadows"
Originally uploaded by seni-seni.

An intriguing new production is breathing life into wayang kulit in Malaysia, where the art form is slowly vanishing. Macbeth in the Shadows adapts the action of Shakespeare's classic play into shadow puppetry, with the dialogue performed in Bahasa Malaysia.

From Malaysia's Sun newspaper:

Slowly but surely, if no one does anything about it, traditional folk art such as wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) will disappear from our shores. Right now, there are only a handful of its exponents still keeping this culture alive.

Among them is Dollah Baju Merah (Dalang Abdullah Ibrahim), one of the last leading Tok Dalangs (shadow puppeteer) in the country.

Pusaka (Centre for the Study and Documentation of Traditional Performance in Malaysia), in association with the British Council, will be bringing Malaysians a taste of Shakespeare performed wayang kulit-style.

Macbeth in the Shadows combines the efforts of Dollah, British novelist-playwright-illustrator Edward Carey, and local poet-writer-translator Eddin Khoo.

The performance involves the design and creation of new puppets by Dollah and Carey, based on the characters in Macbeth. Khoo will adapt and interpret the original play to suit the requirements of wayang kulit.

Macbeth in the Shadows is scheduled to be staged at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) in September.

Read more about on this production on the Malaysian blog, Bibliobibuli.