THE ORIGINAL SHADOW SHOW
"Magic Shadow-show," the familiar phrase from the English version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, has often been used as a picturesque description of the cinema, states an overseas writer. Very naturally, the original Persian device had little resemblance to the modern entertainment. What Omar knew was a toy in the form of a paper pail within which burned a candle, while silhouettes hung from a metal disc revolved round it.
Tradition has it, however, that Karageuz, the popular Turkish Punch show, evolved from the Persian shadows. And the method by which its hearty stories are presented is not essentially different from the celluloid film. Transparent and brightly-coloured figures are worked in front of a lamp, whose light shining through them projects their images on a screen. The effect, extremely beautiful, is that of men and women from stained glass windows having been endowed with life.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19390325.2.140.13
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 71, 25 March 1939, Page 18
Word Count
150THE ORIGINAL SHADOW SHOW Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 71, 25 March 1939, Page 18
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