The real story
Wayang kulit is performed with flat puppets carved from buffalo hide and punched with thousands of tiny holes, held against a white screen in front of an oil lamp (today often an electric bulb). A single dalang voices every character, conducts the gamelan with taps and knocks, and often performs from evening until dawn. UNESCO proclaimed wayang a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.
The stories come from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, but Javanese tradition added the punakawan: Semar and his sons Gareng, Petruk and Bagong, comic servants who don't exist in the Indian epics. Semar is said to be a god in disguise. In the comic episode 'Petruk Dadi Ratu', Petruk takes the throne and makes a fool of himself, a way of laughing at power that audiences understood.
