Nang drama

Nang yai (Thai: ) is a form of shadow play found in Thailand. Puppets are made of painted buffalo hide, while the story is narrated by songs, chants and music.

literally means skin or hide, and in common usage refers to a dance-drama shadow puppet show. Nang Yai specifically means "large shadow puppet", while Nang Talung means "small shadow puppet" show. The Nang Yai features life size puppets. Both are particularly popular in southern Thailand. Most scholars believe, states James Brandon, that Nang Yai came to Thailand, via Java and Malay Peninsula, from India. The alternate theory is that Jayavarman II imported the art from Java into Cambodia around 800 CE, and it is from the Khmer era that the shadow puppet theatre arrived in Thailand.

Nang Yai and Nang Talung incorporate various episodes of the Indian epic Ramayana called Ramakien in Thai. Nang yai performance also adopts the Ramayana as a leading story and the performance is episodic in each show. It is a high art form that originated the beginning of the fifteenth century CE. Nang yai performances were a popular means of entertainment during the Ayudhaya period and are mentioned in a poem called Bunnovat Khamchan written by the Buddhist monk Mahanag sometime around the years 1751 to 1758 CE, at the end of King Boromakot's reign. The earliest known mention of Nang Yai in Thai records is from 1458, states Brandon.

The performance of large shadow puppet is traditionally held in open spaces such as a lawn or village dirt space. The main components of Nang Yai are a 6 by 16 white screen held by four bamboo or wood poles on each side. The screen is trimmed by red strip. Behind the screen strands a tinder or a bonfire lit up to reflect the shadows of the puppet. During the course of the show there is a Thai music band that plays music in accordance with each episode of the performance. Also important in each shadow is a dubber, whose tradition continued to be of importance in film dubbing. The puppet figures are made from perforated cow or buffalo hide, each weighing about three or four kilograms. The biggest puppet is one which characterizes a place, weighing around five to seven kilograms.

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