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Next to nothing is known of the devel opment of the wayai) theatre during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth cen turies. In the eighteenth and nineteenth cen turies, in harmony with the renaissance of classical letters at the Central Javanese Courts, the ancient wayar; theatre and theat rical literature attracted the attention of Court scholars. The ancient art of the wayai) play performer, the dalai), was studied and the plays, together with the gamelan music, were developed and standardized. Probably the very intricate structure of wayai) plays prevailing in Central Java since the begin ning of the nineteenth century was developed by Surakarta Court dalatjs, using ancient craft traditions as foundation. In the nine teenth century Surakarta and Yogyakarta dalai), art spread all over the country. The wayar), theatre was a powerful instrument in unifying Javanese art and culture, intro ducing the Central Javanese literary idiom in outlying districts where it was imperfectly known. The Javanese wayai) theatre appears in several forms. The most popular kind is the so-called wayar) kulit (a Javanese-Malay name), using polychrome flat buffalo-leather puppets with flexible arms, The wayar; kulit theatre is spread all over Java; in Cen tral Java, and especially in the Surakarta and Yogyakarta domains and dependencies, it is predominant. So it is in Bali, and in Lombok in those districts where Javanese- Balinese wayar) is popular. The wayar) golèk comes next to the wayar) kulit as to popularity. In wayar) golèk, poly chrome round wooden puppets with movable heads and arms are used. Heads made by gifted woodcarvers can be very expressive.

Wayar) golèk is popular in the North Coast districts of Java, especially in the western part. In the interior of the country, in Surakarta, and Yogyakarta, it is almost un known (see 30.460). Wayar) zvor) is the name given to the theatre with male and (sometimes) female actors, playing wayai), plays, which developed in Central Java at the Royal and princely Courts in the last decades of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century it was popularized. Travelling wayar) wor) troupes of Central Javanese origin, visiting provin cial fairs, spread theatrical wayai) art all over the country. Beside wayar) kulit, wayar) golèk and wayar) wor) minor kinds of wayai) theatre are known in some districts of Java. Prob ably the wayar) bèbèr sets, in some remote villages in the South of Central Java, date from the eighteenth century. No doubt the genre is much older. It consists of cotton scrolls, with polychrome pictures of dra matic scenes. The performer, while telling the story, exhibits the relevant part of the scroll. It is spread between two upright sticks fixed on a simple wooden box (see 31.140). The wayar) krucil or klitik puppets are flat wooden boards with flexible arms (see 30.850). The dances of masked actors playing wayai) plays also are expressive of the Ja vanese artists’ theatrical genius. Hazeu’s thesis on “Het Javaansche Tooneel” (1897) contains information on different kinds of Javanese theatre. In the present author’s “Javaanse Volksvertoningen” Javanese masks, masked dances, mummeries and pageants are discussed.