CHAPTER II

Making a Shadow Play

It is not at all difficult to make a shadow play if one knows what the requirements are. The first requirement of either a cut-out shadow play or a human play is that its story shall have action. In this it is like a movie. You will recall how keenly you enjoy the action in such movies as _Robin Hood_ and the _Black Pirate_. The second requirement is a dramatic plan or problem. This is necessary in order to hold the attention of the audience. For example, the dramatic plan or problem in the _Black Pirate_ is the struggle of the hero to free himself from the pirates. Your attention is held by this struggle. The third requirement is the selection of the most important and interesting characters in the play. Since the success of a shadow play depends upon interesting silhouettes, each character must have individuality. No two silhouettes should be alike, either in appearance or size. As an illustration of this, notice that the shadow figures at the top of page 215 are of different appearance and height. Lastly, the settings of a shadow play should be very simple and suggestive and help to tell the story.

Nursery rhymes and fables, folk and fairy tales are delightful material for cut-out shadow plays. They are vivid, humorous, and fanciful. They are full of direct conversation which can be carried on by the puppeteers behind the screen or by a reader in front of the screen. In the following list you may find a story to turn into a cut-out shadow play. Nursery rhymes such as: _Little Bo Peep_, _Old King Cole_, _The Knave of Hearts_, _A Frog Who Would A-Wooing Go_, and _The House That Jack Built_. Fables such as those of Æsop, La Fontaine, and Bidpai. Folk and fairy tales, such as: _Cinderella_, _Beauty and the Beast_, _Jack and the Beanstalk_, _The Three Little Pigs_, _The Elves and the Shoemaker_, _Seven at a Blow_, _Snow White and the Dwarfs_, _The Three Bears_, _Red Riding Hood_, _Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp_, _Sleeping Beauty_, _The Mermaid_, _Just-So Stories_, _Three Billy Goats Gruff_, _The Traveling Musicians of Bremen_, and _The Pied Piper of Hamelin Town_. Bible stories can be turned into beautiful shadow plays. For example, David and Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Jonah and the Whale, and Joseph and His Brethren.

Tales of heroism and adventure, ballads and poems, stories of Christmas and Easter, Bible stories and stories of the lives of the saints are appropriate for human shadow plays because they have great human interest and give opportunity for dramatic interpretation. The following list may be a guide to you in choosing your play: William Tell, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Roland and Oliver, Hiawatha, The Cid, Joseph and His Brethren, The Story of Moses, David and Jonathan, David Before Saul, The Good Samaritan, The Story of Ruth, The Story of Queen Esther, The Story of St. Francis of Assisi, The Nativity, The Christ-child Legend, Where Love Is There God Is. Also, and Christmas carols such as: Good King Wenceslaus, We Three Kings of the Orient Are, Here We Come A Wassailing, and Little Town of Bethlehem.

Boys and girls who have originality and a gift for writing will find great pleasure in making their own shadow plays. These can be done either in prose or in verse. They can do this easily, if they keep in mind the requirements—action, dramatic interest, individuality of characters, and a simple, harmonious setting. It is worth trying.

[Illustration: [Shadows]]

[Illustration:

_Scenes from the cut out shadow play, "The Traveling Musicians of Bremen."_ ]

[Illustration: [Shadows]]