Wayang Kulit Kelantan

Wayang kulit Kelantan, properly wayang Siam, is the Malay shadow theatre of the north-east: a screen, an oil lamp or bulb behind it, flat perforated hide puppets on horn handles, and a dalang who voices every character, narrates, and cues a gamelan-style ensemble of drums, gongs and serunai. The repertoire is the Hikayat Maharaja Wana, the Malay telling of the Ramayana, performed over many nights. From the 1990s the Kelantan state government restricted performance on religious grounds, and the tradition contracted sharply as senior dalang died without full successors. It has since been performed again under agreed conditions and with adjustments, and there are trained younger dalang, but the art is fragile. UNESCO inscribed wayang puppet theatre of the region as intangible heritage, and comparable Malaysian forms are documented nationally.

What you actually see

• A lit screen and hide puppets - perforated figures worked on horn handles.
• One dalang doing everything - voices, narration and cues for the ensemble.
• A gong and drum ensemble - the percussion and serunai behind the screen.
• The Malay Ramayana - the Hikayat Maharaja Wana told over successive nights.

When to go

All year; check performance schedules, which are irregular. An evening.

Honest expectations

Performances are not on a fixed calendar and can be hard to find - arrange through cultural centres. Full performances run for hours in Kelantanese Malay; tourist shows are short excerpts.

Nearby

Kota Bharu's palaces and museums are in the same cultural zone.