New theatre show shines a light on Balinese shadow puppetry
By Kevin Allen
April 14, 2026 at 1:19 PM HST
A new large-scale Balinese shadow puppetry performance takes the stage this month at the Kennedy Theatre at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
A live gamelan ensemble, a special lighting effects team, and a 52-person cast of shadow casters, dancers and actors come together after six months of rehearsing to present their production of "Panji and the Lost Princess," the story of two fated lovers and the trials and misfortunes that come between them.
UH Asian Theatre Program Director Kirstin Pauka and Balinese master artist I Madé Moja are the two directors responsible for bringing this show to light. The duo sat down with HPR to talk about the story of Prince Panji and share what it takes to produce a shadow puppetry show.
Interview Highlights
On the story of Prince Panji
I MADÉ MOJA: The story actually coming from Java, and then we bring it to Bali into very classical performance, the gambuh. The story picked this one because we have a writer, so he's also a musician, dalang and a puppeteer. So we asked him to rewrite this story.
KIRSTIN PAUKA: The name Panji is used in Java. In Bali, is actually called Raden Ino Kertapati, and the name also changes a lot when the character comes into story material on mainland Southeast Asia, where it's then called Prince Inao. So it's basically an adventure story, a romance that features loyalty and magic and travel adventures as the two fated lovers trying to get together and then cannot, because of all these other mishaps and misfortunes and, you know, stuff that happens when you travel. And so it's a great platform to write episodes that are, depending on your audience, more focused on the romance or more focused on the adventure.
Cameryn Richardson as Minister Macan Angelur in "Panji and the Lost Princess." (901x677, AR: 1.3308714918759232)
On the scale of the production
MOJA: The background about shadow puppet in Bali is only one person doing the puppet. In this case, we have how many, nine? Yes, nine people. So we try to figure out how, you know, almost like live movie. So everybody has a role. Sometimes just move the scenery and they're moving the puppet. And then we have a light source, different light source. Think eight lights.
I Madé Moja demonstrating how different masks are used in Balinese shadow puppetry. (1076x990, AR: 1.0868686868686868)
PAUKA: I always say that this kind of type of theater requires teamwork on a much higher level, like a magnitude up from normal theater productions. I mean, all theater is teamwork, and all theater is ensemble work, as we know, but this style of theater is literally like a clock, and every little part has to move just perfectly. And so we have a cast of 52 and just imagine, you know, the detail work that goes into every scene. So what the audience sees on the screen might look simple, but maybe it takes 12 people on the back end to make it work that way. So I always tell my students, it's like shooting a movie, except for shooting a whole movie in one take, no breaks, no redos.
On the art of Balinese shadow puppetry
MOJA: It's interesting to show the student how to make a shadow sometimes, or just making shadows sometimes. They didn't think about so much, what they have to learn, what (they) have to be aware about the shadow.
PAUKA: The unique training for this shadow acting is really that most Western actors are so much in their own body that it's a real new experience for them to basically become a shadow puppet themselves. And so they don't act in their body, but they have to look at their shadow and make their shadow work, and then have their shadow express their emotions. … This is the closest we can ever get to, like, out-of-body experience, because we're really making the shadow be the character. So yeah, it's a really wonderful process.
From left to right: HPR's Kevin Allen, Balinese master artist I Madé Moja, and Director of the UH Asian Theatre Program Kirstin Pauka. (March 23, 2026). (6000x4000, AR: 1.5)
“Panji and the Lost Princess” is a Balinese wayang listrik, or large-scale shadow puppetry production, and it debuts on Friday, April 17 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa's Kennedy Theatre. More information on where to buy tickets can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on April 14, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
A live gamelan ensemble, a special lighting effects team, and a 52-person cast of shadow casters, dancers and actors come together after six months of rehearsing to present their production of "Panji and the Lost Princess," the story of two fated lovers and the trials and misfortunes that come between them.
UH Asian Theatre Program Director Kirstin Pauka and Balinese master artist I Madé Moja are the two directors responsible for bringing this show to light. The duo sat down with HPR to talk about the story of Prince Panji and share what it takes to produce a shadow puppetry show.
Interview Highlights
On the story of Prince Panji
I MADÉ MOJA: The story actually coming from Java, and then we bring it to Bali into very classical performance, the gambuh. The story picked this one because we have a writer, so he's also a musician, dalang and a puppeteer. So we asked him to rewrite this story.
KIRSTIN PAUKA: The name Panji is used in Java. In Bali, is actually called Raden Ino Kertapati, and the name also changes a lot when the character comes into story material on mainland Southeast Asia, where it's then called Prince Inao. So it's basically an adventure story, a romance that features loyalty and magic and travel adventures as the two fated lovers trying to get together and then cannot, because of all these other mishaps and misfortunes and, you know, stuff that happens when you travel. And so it's a great platform to write episodes that are, depending on your audience, more focused on the romance or more focused on the adventure.
Cameryn Richardson as Minister Macan Angelur in "Panji and the Lost Princess." (901x677, AR: 1.3308714918759232)
On the scale of the production
MOJA: The background about shadow puppet in Bali is only one person doing the puppet. In this case, we have how many, nine? Yes, nine people. So we try to figure out how, you know, almost like live movie. So everybody has a role. Sometimes just move the scenery and they're moving the puppet. And then we have a light source, different light source. Think eight lights.
I Madé Moja demonstrating how different masks are used in Balinese shadow puppetry. (1076x990, AR: 1.0868686868686868)
PAUKA: I always say that this kind of type of theater requires teamwork on a much higher level, like a magnitude up from normal theater productions. I mean, all theater is teamwork, and all theater is ensemble work, as we know, but this style of theater is literally like a clock, and every little part has to move just perfectly. And so we have a cast of 52 and just imagine, you know, the detail work that goes into every scene. So what the audience sees on the screen might look simple, but maybe it takes 12 people on the back end to make it work that way. So I always tell my students, it's like shooting a movie, except for shooting a whole movie in one take, no breaks, no redos.
On the art of Balinese shadow puppetry
MOJA: It's interesting to show the student how to make a shadow sometimes, or just making shadows sometimes. They didn't think about so much, what they have to learn, what (they) have to be aware about the shadow.
PAUKA: The unique training for this shadow acting is really that most Western actors are so much in their own body that it's a real new experience for them to basically become a shadow puppet themselves. And so they don't act in their body, but they have to look at their shadow and make their shadow work, and then have their shadow express their emotions. … This is the closest we can ever get to, like, out-of-body experience, because we're really making the shadow be the character. So yeah, it's a really wonderful process.
From left to right: HPR's Kevin Allen, Balinese master artist I Madé Moja, and Director of the UH Asian Theatre Program Kirstin Pauka. (March 23, 2026). (6000x4000, AR: 1.5)
“Panji and the Lost Princess” is a Balinese wayang listrik, or large-scale shadow puppetry production, and it debuts on Friday, April 17 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa's Kennedy Theatre. More information on where to buy tickets can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on April 14, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.