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An Ethnographic Approach to Role-Playing in a Performance of Madurese Loddrok

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2009

Hélène Bouvier
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Extract

20 October 1986: the Rukun Kemala troupe is hired to perform at a wedding in Kalianget Barat, its home village from 8.30 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. In a courtyard between two houses, the stage is erected on poles, with a floor of woven bamboo panelling; one whole side will collapse in the middle of the night under the strain of the actors' entrances and exits, without so much as the performance being interrupted. The gamelan orchestra begins to play at 8.30 p.m. exactly, as contracted. Fifty minutes later, slides are projected onto the lowered stage curtain depicting names of the head and leading members of the troupe together with words of welcome to the audience. At 9.30 p.m. the curtain is raised for the first time to reveal a ten-minute dance number: four female dancers appear before the monumental split gates of a Hindu kingdom bathed in red light and strobe effects with Catherine wheels whirling. Next, photos of clowns are projected while the public is harangued to take an active participation in the forthcoming elections, family planning and family education organizations. The curtain rises again to reveal a painted backdrop depicting a street scene in an imaginary modern town, to accompany the clown programme which lasts forty minutes. A final set of slides, ten minutes long, this time shows the actors dressed in the costumes of the characters they are about to portray, with a brief introduction to the story by the scriptwriter. At 10.30 p.m. the curtain opens on the first scene of the play which will last four hours without an interval: ‘Black Mask, in the Story of Yuliati Awaiting Happiness’ (Topeng Hitam dalam kisah Yuliati menanti bahagia).

Type
Research Article
Information
Theatre Research International , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , Spring 1994 , pp. 47 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © International Federation for Theatre Research 1994

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References

Notes

1. In the eastern part of the main island, the most active in the theatrical domain, only one permanent stage exits; it is made of concrete and the audience sits out in the open air. Some performances take place in the rainy season, but very sporadically.

2. For ludruk, see Peacock, James, Rites of Modernization: Symbolic and Social Aspects of Indonesian Proletarian Drama (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1968] 1987).Google Scholar For ketoprak see Hatley, Barbara, ‘Ketoprak Theatre and the Wayang Tradition’, Working Papers No. 19, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, 1980Google Scholar, and ‘Theatrical Imagery and Gender Ideology in Java’ in Power and Difference: Gender in Island Southeast Asia, edited by Jane, MonnigAtkinson & Shelly Errington (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1990), pp. 177–207.Google Scholar

3. Refers to post-1965 era.

4. Reference to the accounts of topeng troupes, with their salary scales weighted heavily in favour of troupe leaders and narrators, and to the existence of secret funds which leave a derisory sum for actors and musicians. Kalianget is renowned for its troupes of topeng and there is bitter rivalry between them and the loddrok troupes—hence the significance of the satire.

5. In masked theatre only the narrator speaks, modifying his voice according to character; the masked actors are silent and mime to the words of the dhalang who manipulates them like puppets. The loddrok actors are very proud of being able to speak and sing themselves.

6. A loose skirt worn by men, which they wrap around their shoulder or hips, or let unfurl as occasion demands.

7. Reference to the fact that devout Muslims only tolerate cultural practices associated with Islam, and put down those which recall a still lively Hindu or animist past. The masked theatre is especially held in contempt for its pre-Islamic repertory drawn from the Mahabharata, from the Ramayana and the Panji cycles, and so is loddrok. But samroh, composed of moral or religious songs accompanied by a modern orchestra, is considered a ‘Muslim art’.

8. For troupes who have both a scriptwriter and a director, the notebook carries their two signatures side by side underneath each play, reflecting a very close working relationship.

9. To avoid confusion and memory lapses, certain troupes distribute or post up in the wings extracts from the director's notebook which indicate the order of scenes, sometimes together with concise explanations, and the casting. The actors consult it several times during the performance.

10. See also the interview with James Peacock who explains the political context of ludruk in Surabaya just before 1965.

11. In spite of the multiplicity of local cultures throughout Indonesia and regardless of their individual uniqueness, Java, because of the political role it has played in the history of the country, is considered by a large number of Indonesians themselves as a model of perfection in the cultural domain.

12. The Madurese language has three principal levels marking differential status between speakers according to age, sex and social rank.

13. For more information on acting techniques in Madurese performing arts, refer to my doctoral thesis, Les arts du temps et du spectacle dans la société madouraise (Indonésie). Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 1990, Chapter 3.Google Scholar

14. In this section, Roman numberals refer to the scenes outlined above.

15. In everyday life, ordinary couples in towns and villages also follow this disparity in terms of address, but they use the levels more freely. The colwns use the low or middle level according to their mood.

16. This is a hint that love can also blossom in marriage, a practical and perhaps consoling thought in Madurese society where most marriages are arranged by parents.

17. Malayo-indonesian martial art sometimes taking on the appearance of dance, its movements not only are used for danced action and combat, but they also form the basis of male gestural vocabulary on stage. Paris, 1990, Chapter 3.

18. Yuliati refers to the evil side of these powers, black magic, when the explains (VII) that the one who has stolen the mandate so smartly must be a thief with magic powers.