What Does Shadow Theather Mean
It is known as shadow play a show that is the creation of certain optical effects . For the development of shadow theater, you need a lamp or other light source and a smooth, clear surface (which can be a wall or a screen ).
The person should place their hands or a puppet in front of the lamp so that the shadow is projected on the wall or screen. According to the position of the hands and the movements, you can create figures: animals, human beings, etc.
It is believed that the origin of the shadow theater is in Prehistory , when the caveman made shadows with fire. In Asian countries such as India and China , puppets also began to be used behind canvases for the development of shadow theater.
Many are the stories and legends that have revolved around the shadow theater. However, one of the most significant is the one that is believed to be the origin of said art in China. Specifically, it seems that everything goes back to the moment in which Emperor Wu-Ti loses his wife (Wang), which adds to a deep sadness.
All the members of the court try to get him to cheer up and get him back to being who he was, but they don't succeed. Jugglers, comedians and all kinds of artists pass by trying to make him smile again, but without success. However, one day a man named Sha-Wong shows up, claiming that he is capable of bringing the beautiful Wang to life.
Therefore, he places the emperor in front of a cloth held by two posts at a certain distance and tells him that he cannot move no matter what he sees. He accepts the deal and soon begins to see how behind the cloth, in shadows, he can see the silhouette of his beloved, which fills him with happiness. And so it happens day after day until Wu-Ti on one occasion, tired of not being able to touch his wife, walks up to the cloth and pulls it down, discovering that it was all a hoax, that, in reality, everything It was the result of the shadow play that Sha-Wong made with a lamp and a woman's figure.
The practice of creating figures with the shadows of the hands is currently known as Chinese shadows or Chinese shadows . The concept of shadow theater is generally applied when marionettes or puppets are used as part of the show.
There are those who argue that shadow theater is the antecedent of cinema : it was the first experience based on the reproduction of movements and actions on a screen. Of course, both techniques are very different, although they share this particularity.
Another type of art that is linked to shadow theater is the so-called black theater in Prague , which consists of performing games of shadows and lights with flashlights on a dark stage.