Shadow Theater in Cambodia is one of the most traditional formats for storytelling. As with other kinds of Shadow Theater (Indonesia, China, India, Greece, Turkey etc.) the performance involves the projection of light or fire on a white screen, on which performers use puppets to produce shadows.

During Angkor times, carpets of the Royal household were made of large pieces of tanned buffalo skins. One day, a housekeeper, seeing that they were getting old, decided to replace them. As he pulled out one of them and haphazardly put it against light, he realized that having been trodden thousands of times here and there pierced by the stone floor, the holes were making some sort of a relief pattern looking like figures and relief. The housekeeper got the idea to use this discovery. He cut figures of the Reamker out of the skins. The shadow theatre was born.

The Cambodian art of Shadow Theater utilizes puppets made of leather, called Sbaek in Khmer language. The leather puppets are pieces of art in themselves. The design of the panel, made out of an entire cow’s tanned skin, refers to an ancient tradition, and requires drawing skills, chiseling ability, and the capacity to balance light and shadow within the panel, in order to let the figures emerge from the panel.

Each style is fashioned by craftsmen according to traditional methods. Made from specially treated cowhide, the leathers used for shadow puppetry have been treated, naturally dyed, designed and hand carved by Mann Kosal and three of this employees of the Sovanna Phum Association. Mr. Kosal has been working in this revived medium since 1994.

The panels include more than 20 puppets with totally a different way whether playing in a small theatre or a large theatre.