Wayang Bali, the Balinese shadow play, is one of the most exciting undiscovered events of world theater. Until recently, language barriers have kept its drama and humor hidden from the world at large. Larry Reed and his gamelan musicians make it possible for Western audiences to enjoy this classical form of storytelling. Plots for the shadow play are drawn from the Mahabharata myth cycle, in which five brothers are pitted against one hundred jealous cousins in a struggle for power involving gods, demons, magical weapons, and the inevitable beautiful princess. Wayang Bali has been awarded the UNIMA-USA Citation for Excellence, puppetry's highest award.

Larry Reed is a nationally and internationally acclaimed theatre artist, and is a trailblazer in the contemporary shadow theatre field. The founder and Artistic Director of ShadowLight Productions, he has pioneered contemporary shadow theater by integrating traditional shadow theater techniques with modern theater and film styles. His original works include Monkey King at Spider Cave, 7 Visions, In Xanadu, and Coyote’s Journey. These and other works have been seen at theatres and festivals such as Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater, Britt Festival, the Spoleto Festival USA, Walter Spies Festival in Bali, and Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Puppetry Conference. Reed is one of the few Americans trained in Wayang Kulit, Balinese shadow puppetry.

Carla Fabrizio (musician) A student of Balinese music since 1982, Carla has performed with Gamelan Sekar Jaya since 1983 and with ShadowLight Productions since 1990.

Lisa Gold (musician) has been a performing member of the Bay Area’s Gamelan Sekar Jaya and Gamelan Sari Raras since 1980 and ShadowLight since 1982. She is on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is an occasional Lecturer at UC Berkeley, and author of: Music in Bali: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (Oxford University Press, 2004) and a Ph.D. dissertation entitled The Gender Wayang Repertoire in Theater and Ritual: A Study of Balinese Musical Meaning (UC Berkeley, 1998). She wishes to thank her many generous Balinese teachers.

Paul Miller (musician) has been studying Balinese Music for 18 years, specializing in Gender Wayang. He lives and teaches in Oakland.

Sarah Willner (musician) performed in and managed ShadowLight's In Xanadu and Wayang Listrik. She has been a member of Gamelan Sekar Jaya since 1988. She would like to honor her gender wayang teachers I Wayan Loceng and I Konolon of Bali.

ShadowLight Productions was founded in 1972 to nurture indigenous shadow theater traditions and to explore and expand the possibilities of the shadow theatre medium by creating innovative interdisciplinary, multicultural works. The company is one of the very few professional shadow theatre companies in the world and fills a distinctively unique role in the modern theatre scene. ShadowLight’s activities range from creation of one-of-a-kind original works to arts-in-education programs to DVD legacy projects to demonstrate a wide spectrum of Shadow Theatre to the contemporary audience. The company’s latest, Ghosts of the River, a multidisciplinary shadow theatre work written by Octavio Solis, explores the contentious US/Mexico border issues and premieres at Brava Theater Center October 28 – November 8, 2009.

Please visit ShadowLight's website for more information.