A glimpse of Kelantanese Mak Yong from the past to the present

This study intends to briefl y explore the past of Kelantanese Mak Yong and look into several changes throughout the decades before it gradually declines in the 20th century. The paper begins with a brief historical introduction of Kelantanese Mak Yong and later traces the animistic and Islamic infl uences that determine the contextual changes and story contents in Mak Yong performances. In a situation where Mak Yong faces the possible discontinuation of heirs, insuffi ciency of performers, and obstruction from Islamic principles and laws, the art is no longer practiced as part of the village entertaining routine and the collaboration between Kelantanese and Terengganuan Mak Yong performers becomes intimate and needed. To survive, it needs to resolve for an adaptation of animistic-Islamic conceptual settings with reinterpretations from the spiritually knowledgeable bomohs