Silhouettes & Smiles

“The Shadow knows” was a refrain heard in the 1930’s as families gathered around their radios to hear the exploits of their favorite crime fighter imbued with special psychic powers. On Saturday, families gathered to pay homage to a different kind of shadow through the art of shadow puppetry at Westville’s Kehler Liddell Gallery.

Dozens of children and their parents participated in a shadow-puppet workshop faciliated by Westville resident Muffy Pendergast, Shula Weinstein and Linda Wingerter aka Polly Sonic who, according to Pendergast, ​“collectively runs the gamut from fire-eating to performance art, circus arts, playing music, painting, illustrating, building giant puppets, and in general contributing to the creative landscape of greater New Haven.”

A handsome flyer invited participants to ​“Design and create your own shadow puppets, then take them for a spin on the puppet stage, accompanied by strange and unusual sounds and music.” The unusual sounds included the otherworldly musical musings of Polly Sonic, whose instrument — a bowed saw, created just the right atmosphere for magical images backlit and held close to the translucent scrim of the puppet stage.

Shadow puppetry has roots in the ancient cultures of Indonesia (called Wayang Kulit), China, and many other nations, and represents one of the oldest forms of story telling. Through movement, the silhouetted images create a dreamy quality, not unlike the evocative imagery of 20th Century artist Marc Chagall, whose characters appear to defy gravity and levitate or fly.

The young puppet-makers worked with focus and intensity as they crafted thin bamboo skewers, tape and construction paper into whimsical two dimensional forms; cats, mermaids, dragons and other mystical creatures took shape amid a sea of abstract paper remnants. Smiles grew even broader as children took took turns putting on impromptu shows for the captivated audience. Ms. Pendergast reflected on the success of the free workshop: ​“In today’s technologically obsessed culture, this was a lovely low tech event, where every child was engaged, successful and proud of their creations. All it took was a little paper, scissors, and time.”

For information about making your own shadow puppets and a theater visit www.squidoo.com/shadow-puppet-theater.