Nang Sbek Toch

Nang sbek toch or in some regions in Cambodia is called ayang, nang kalun or nang thalong is a smaller version of nang sbek thom. However the difference is the puppets have movable arms, legs and jaws which can mimic speech and song of the narrator of a story. Nang sbek toch unlike nang sbek thom has comic characters, therefore is based on stories regarding daily life and unlike nang sbek thom that serves a kind of religious significant -adoration art with modest characters.

The origin of nang sbek toch is still unknown however some researchers speculate or suggest that according to the describing shadow puppet theatre as ayang, that Khmer shadow theatre probably derived from wayang kulit of Malaysia. During the Angkorean period a large part of mainland Indo-China and parts of the Malay Peninsula was under the Khmer Empire. Some propose, according to giving the name of nang thalong, that it was likely to have originated in a inhabited village of Phattalung which is now in Thailand. However during the Angkorean period Phattalung was in the western part of the Khmer Empire. According to the derivation of words from Thai, the name of Khmer shadow theatre is also called namtalong. While other researchers speculate that the name ayang or ayang theatre probably had a provenance in a Khmer inhabited village of Malyang where in turmoil occurred during the Angkorean period. The village was situated in Battambang Province in the west of Cambodia.

Some troupes of shadow theatre of Battambang, most people use a name of this art form as ayang and some use names as nang ta long or namtalong. The above-mentioned troupe of two provinces are different to other provinces because the name of ayang is popular among the people in Phnom Penh and most provinces, especially those who normally take part in celebration of the reigning monarch's birthday wherein some celebrations of erection of tableaux vivants from each province Cambodia. in the palace ground, the main traditional ceremonies such as a regatta procession of illuminated floats, salutation to the moon, and drama festivals especially performance of shadow theatre are held and revived annually usually in November.

Unlike nang sbek thom, nang sbek toch tends to perform stories other than the Reamker such as Maha Chea-dak (Jataka tales that is about the life of Buddha). The puppeteers would use dialogue that is improvised and full of cutting wit and buffoonery that gives it that extra twist to the story. The screen is much smaller than of nang sbek thom and could be performed anywhere as long as there is space. Nang sbek toch is accompanied by the pin-peat orchestra like for nang sbek thom, sbek poar, lakhon khol and robam boran khmer.