The only other scenic properties the dalang traditionally uses are the temple-gate candi puppet and the kepuh tree puppet. The candi puppet represents a holy place, heaven or a meditative space and is always found on the right side of the scene. The kepuh tree puppet represents a cemetery. The kepuh tree is thought to be occupied by many magical evil spirits and is conventionally placed on the left. In recent years, some of the younger dalang have experimented with other projections, coloured lights and objects, but this practice has not yet been fully developed and only a minority uses it. The traditional dalang would argue, in a way that is familiar to proponents of bare-stage Shakespeare, that the narrative alone is sufficient to trigger the imagination of the audience and that such devices are unnecessary.
At the heart of most Wayang Kulit performances is the close relationship between the dalang and the audience, transmitted mainly through humour, which is often one of the key elements that determine the success of a particular dalang. The dalang combines satirist and stand-up comedian as he creates the central dialogue between the servants who carry the burden of narrative and comment on it. The rich humour covers all manner of territory including puns, malapropisms, humorous voices, comic puppet movements, misunderstandings, mistaken identities, sexual innuendo, stupidity, arrogance, infidelity, corruption, deliberate trans-linguistic mistakes, etc. Even tourists and foreign media may come under his withering scrutiny. It all depends on time, place and circumstance. It is essential that the dalang is topical and current in his social, political and local outlook and this affects directly the way the audience responds. Many (perhaps most) comic dialogues are composed separately and interpolated into a variety of plays. As a dalang expands or modifies his jokes, some improvised comic dialogues made up at a particular performance may be retained for other performances since there are no rules as to which comic dialogues can be used with any story. Interestingly, the Balinese see no problem for a serious temple event, such as a purification ceremony, to also involve a Wayang performance rich in humour: the serious and sacred can comfortably cohabit with the secular. It is tempting to compare this with the Elizabethan ability to switch back and forth between the holy and the tragic to the comic. The subtle separation in Bali is achieved simply by moving from the pre-performance ceremony in the sacred inner section of the temple to the middle or outer temple for the performance.
The four dominant comic characters in Wayang (the black, fat Twalen with his quick-and-sharp son Wredah, the braggart boisterous Delem and his slow younger brother Sangut) are, however, not just clowns. In some ways, they relate more to the philosophical clowns of Shakespeare than to the Commedia dell’Arte counterparts to which they are often compared. These court attendants, known as Panasar (foundation or base) characters, embody honesty and truthfulness and suggest ways to end corruption and dishonesty (de Boer, 1987b: 79–105). These dominant comic characters in Wayang often appear as moralistic agents who offer useful suggestions to their kings in times of misery or pressure. Historians suggest that these servants are indigenous Indonesian characters, since they are not part of the Indian epics but are always dominant in Wayang shows presenting the Indian epics. These historians also use the characters as evidence that Wayang may have originated in Indonesia.
The ancient manuscript Darma Pawayangan asserts the microcosmic and macrocosmic significant of these characters. In the microcosmos, ‘Delem belongs to the point from which the heart hangs down, Twalen to that of the liver, Wredah to that of the kidneys, and Sangut to that of the bile’ (Hooykaas, 1973: 21–2). In the macrocosmos, they are often identified with four aspects of the Highest Being; Twalen is the god Acintya who occupies the black part of fire; Wredah is the god Sanghyang Tunggal who occupies the white part of fire; Sangut is the Sanghyang Suksma who occupies the yellow part of fire; and Delem is the god Brahma who occupies the red part of fire. The clowns are thus in one sense aspects of the performer’s own body, yet simultaneously they make up the cosmic fire of the High God. These comic servants often also have a role as a saviour, interceding between humans and God and they act as advisors to those who rule.
The common comic characters in Wayang are not all hypocrites, impostors and cowards of the Western comic theatre tradition that, in other ways, share some characteristics with the Balinese clowns. Rather, they are the voice of the civilised and divine. While a set comic character in Western comedies may appear in a few separate plays (Brigella in Commedia dell’Arte, Karegoz in Turkish puppetry, Jan Klaasen in Dutch puppetry, Don Christobal in Spain, Petrushka in Russia, Vasilache in Rumania, Pavliha in Yugoslavia, Pulcinello in Italian puppetry or Policenelle in France) these characters in Wayang always appear in each and every performance of the Ramayana- and Mahabharata-based repertoire. It can be argued that ultimately Wayang uses comedy to comment on society, expose negative emotions and thoughts and suggest a better way to live. In this sense, most dalang would see that humour serves a more serious overall function, although many of the audience might only respond on the immediate, comic level.
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