Before my performance of wayang golek menak (a rod-puppet performance of Islamic legends) Pak Narto, my teacher in Central Java, was trying to dress me for the role of a dhalang, the puppeteer of a wayang. He tugged down on the batik sarong, already wrapped low about my waist, and pulled at the dress hat and jacket that pinched my head and bound my shoulders, as if he could have concealed that I was anything more or less than a large American in Javanese dress. That evening, in the village of Gombong on the South coast of Central Java, I would perform a demonstration of wayang golek menak. I had only arrived a few months before to undertake my research with Pak Narto and was hastily prepared to perform for a celebration surrounding the wedding of his wife's cousin. After my brief demonstration, there would be an all night wayang performance by Pak Narto's brother, Pak Kuswanto.