Javanese artist Tamara will bring the tradition of Wayang Kulit, Indonesia's theatre of shadow puppets, to Berea College on Thursday, April 27 in a performance beginning at 8 p.m. in Phelps-Stokes Chapel. A Javanese interpretation of the Indian epic "Ramayana," the performance is a one-woman show. Tamara will serve as the dalang, or shadow master, who manipulates flat puppets behind an illuminated story cloth and also as narrator. Music played on the gamelon will accompany the show. Preceding the performance, Tamara will provide a brief introduction to Indonesian shadow puppet theatre.

In conjunction with the performance, an exhibit of Asian shadow puppets, including examples from the Wayang Kulit, is on display through April 27 in the Rogers Gallery of the College's Rogers Art Building. The puppets are from the private collection of Edward FitzGerald, former international student advisor at Berea. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Wayang Kulit is an art dating back to the 10th century and is rooted in the ancient belief that ancestors' spirits return to Earth at night and inhabit the puppets' shadows. Traditionally, the Wayang play is always accompanied by a gamelon orchestra and lasts from sunset to dawn without intermission.

In a male-dominated art form, Tamara is the first Javanese-born female shadow master to perform professionally outside of Indonesia. Born in Chimahi, Java of Dutch and Indonesian parents, Tamara's interest in shadow puppet theatre began when she was a child. She later studied drama and theatre in Paris and appeared in two motion pictures filmed there, "Lust for Life" and "Trapeze." She developed her Javanese Shadow Puppet Theatre show after immigrating to the U.S. Her collection of shadow puppets, begun in 1975, now numbers 500.

Tamara has lectured and performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Asia Society and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and at schools, universities, museums and festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. She also has appeared on television.

The performance is part of the 1999-2000 Stephenson Memorial Concert Series, and is free and open to the public.