BEIJING — “Devil monkey! Where are you escaping to?!”

At the Dragon in the Sky Shadow Puppet Playhouse here, the silhouette of Princess Iron Fan was shouting furiously at the Monkey King. She thrust her sword at him, as he leapt up, grasping his golden cudgel.

It was an episode from the classic Chinese tale “Journey to the West,” in which the Monkey King struggles to get hold of Princess Iron Fan’s fan to extinguish the blaze on the Mountain of Flames. The characters, figures cut from donkey leather and manipulated with rods, were backlit against a cloth screen, in an art form that goes back 2,000 years and has been included in the intangible cultural heritage list by the United Nations’ cultural heritage agency.

But when the performance ended and the puppeteers, musicians and singers came onstage for their curtain call, it was clear that this was no ordinary theater group. The performers, mostly in their early 20s, were all well below average height.

“Great!” said Wang Jingzhi, a 90-year-old spectator, noting that the troupe members were dwarfs. “They’re certainly earning their pay. Very inspiring!”