{"id":392518,"date":"2026-04-15T01:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/392518\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:13:17","slug":"balinese-shadow-puppetry-production-to-transform-kennedy-theatre-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/392518\/","title":{"rendered":"Balinese shadow puppetry production to transform Kennedy Theatre stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Reading time:   2 minutes<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-balinese-kennedy3.jpg\" alt=\"Cameryn Richardson as Minister Macan Angelur\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-232223\"  \/>Cameryn Richardson as Minister Macan Angelur. Photo credit: C. Lamborn<\/p>\n<p>The University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa\u2019s Department of <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Theatre &amp; Dance<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/kennedy-theatre\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kennedy Theatre<\/a> will debut <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/panji\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Panji and the Lost Princess<\/a> from April 17\u201326, a large-scale Balinese shadow puppetry performance that blends tradition with innovation. The show features towering shadow figures, live actors and dancers, and a full gamelan orchestra, an Indonesian ensemble known for its layered, rhythmic sound.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-balinese-kennedy-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"(From L to R) Jill Sanders and Mia Davies\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-232221\"  \/>(From L to R) Jill Sanders and Mia Davies.<br \/>Photo credit: C. Lamborn<\/p>\n<p>At the center is a love story that has traveled across centuries. The Panji tales, rooted in 13th-century Java and later embraced in Bali, follow a prince and princess separated again and again by misfortune and disguise. Their journey unfolds through \u201celectric shadows,\u201d a modern Balinese style that uses giant screens, dramatic lighting and performers moving both in front of and behind the stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything you see on the screen is created live, in the moment,\u201d said co-director Kirstin Pauka, a professor in theatre and dance. \u201cThis type of theatre is as complex as shooting a movie, and we do it all in one take.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-balinese-kennedy2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Mia Davies as Langke Sari\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-232222\"  \/>Mia Davies as Langke Sari.<br \/>Photo credit: C. Lamborn<\/p>\n<p>The production is co-directed by Balinese master artist I Mad\u00e9 Moja, who returns to Kennedy Theatre after staging two earlier works. This time, the team leans fully into handmade design. No digital projections. No computer effects. Instead, simple materials are transformed into moving shadows, music and motion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe level of teamwork required goes far beyond most theatre productions,\u201d Pauka said.<\/p>\n<p>That collaboration stretches across campus and community. The cast includes UH M\u0101noa students, local performers, and keiki learning the art form. The live music is led by master musician I Mad\u00e9 Widana.<\/p>\n<p>Ticket information<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiiathletics.evenue.net\/events\/KT2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tickets range from $9 to $25<\/a>. Performances are scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings, with a Sunday matinee on April 26. Pre-show talks will be held before select performances.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/panji\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">For more go to the Kennedy Theatre website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading time: 2 minutesCameryn Richardson as Minister Macan Angelur. Photo credit: C. Lamborn The University of Hawai\u02bbi at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[17386,186774,186786,186783,146,186777,2587,32817,32816,32815,186780,186781,85,186778,46,77307,186775,186779,186785,32821,32823,32822,186773,186782,14337,186776,186784,186787,17850,32814,32819,32820,32813,32818],"class_list":{"0":"post-392518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bali","9":"tag-balinese-shadow-puppetry","10":"tag-college-of-arts-languages-and-letters","11":"tag-electric-shadows","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-gamelan-orchestra","14":"tag-hawaii","15":"tag-hawaii-college","16":"tag-hawaii-higher-education","17":"tag-hawaii-university","18":"tag-i-made-moja","19":"tag-i-made-widana","20":"tag-il","21":"tag-indonesian-ensemble","22":"tag-israel","23":"tag-java","24":"tag-kennedy-theatre","25":"tag-kirstin-pauka","26":"tag-live-actors-and-dancers","27":"tag-manoa-campus","28":"tag-manoa-college","29":"tag-manoa-university","30":"tag-panji-and-the-lost-princess","31":"tag-panji-tales","32":"tag-performance","33":"tag-shadow-puppetry","34":"tag-theatre-dance","35":"tag-theatre-and-dance","36":"tag-tickets","37":"tag-uh","38":"tag-uh-manoa","39":"tag-uhm","40":"tag-university-of-hawaii","41":"tag-university-of-hawaii-at-manoa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}