Wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre;henceforth “wayang”) as practiced in Java(Indonesia) has been recognized by exegetes –European and Indonesian alike – for its centralityas both a performative vehicle forand a symbolic figuration ofunderstandings of the human developmental cycle, thevariety of character models available toindividuals, the precarious balance of chaos andstability in society, and kinship dialectics ofconflict and complementariness. It is Java's mostcomplex art form, in terms of dramaturgy, music, andrepertoire, and also one of its most highlymediated. The beginning of what Iwould like to discuss is located at theend of Ward Keeler's exemplaryethnography of Central Javanesewayang and the dialogical play ofselves and others in relations of hierarchy. Keelerconcludes his evocative account of Javanese selvesand theatre (and here I paraphrase) with thestatement that “the peculiar fascination” of thedhalang in Javanese culture stemsfrom his ability to dissimulate his self inperformance. The puppeteer's voice is splintered,his presence veiled by a screen and mediated bypuppets and the constraints of tradition, and hisauthority derived from indirect relations to aritual sponsor, the Javanese autarchy, theancestors, and the unseen world. “He is at once adissembled authority, one whose power is great,non-coercive, and unworldly, and a dissembledinterpreter, one who mediates between an unreal butpersuasive and distracting world, and our own”.