Wayang shadow theatre In Bali Part 3

In general, scenery in Wayang theatre is traditionally minimal. Two large demonic, multi-headed puppets frame the screen. The ‘one thousand eyes Butha Siu or Wisnumurti is always placed on the right side of the screen, while the ‘nine eyes’ Butha Sia or Ludramurti stands up on the left side. The dalang set their very first scene and define their performing area by planting these two puppets in the correct position. Except when these butha serve as characters, these puppets remain on their respective side of the acting area from the beginning until the end of the show. As a character, puppet Butha Siu is used to visualise the power of several good characters, while Butha Sia represents the power of many evil characters. Consequently, the puppets Butha Siu and Butha Sia symbolise the two opposing forces, rwa bhineda, on the right and the left side, respectively. The slightly smaller kayonan or Tree of Life puppet represents other scenic images in a flexible manner. In addition to beginning a Wayang

performance, it is used to shift one scene to another and to end a performance. This oval-shaped puppet often represents water, fire, wind, ocean, cloud, earth, forest, tree, house, etc. It is set within the acting area without changing the first basic framing of Bhuta Siu and Butha Sia. When manipulated in different specific ways, the kayonan can also represent a great variety of other images. As it is manipulated, the oil lamp that creates the shadow is partly covered with a petal of banana’s log to enhance the dramatic atmosphere. Western performance storytelling traditions have no equivalent to this single object that can have so many symbolic uses and meanings. It is typical of the economy and flexibility of all Balinese approaches to staging devices and objects in general.

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.

The remaining core elements which the dalang uses in any performance are poetry and verse. Part of the improvisation in the performance of Wayang theatre also involves working with established kakawin verse and composing songs and poetry. Many dalang call this activity ngawi kakawin, which basically means to reinterpret and give new meaning to the kakawin. The dalang is able to move between Balinese and the classical kakawin language, changing and adding or substituting words and phrases. Precise rules govern this poetry concerning number of lines and syllables, according to the particular form. The dalang can combine different source lines and even construct new lines in a similar style and sound. When the newly constructed sequence does not completely match the rules, the dalang may avoid this verse conflict by speaking instead of singing the lines. In essence, the dalang is creating his verse script by borrowing, adapting, editing and adding to existing lines and phrases.

Most dalang discuss the influence of the stage, i.e. place, on their performance. Dalang feel there are two categories of performance venues: a generous and an ungenerous stage. The generous stage is typically supportive and lends itself to the performance’s success, while an ungenerous stage tends to give a negative influence. This ungenerous stage is often referred to as a demon-occupied stage (panggung gamangan or median), because people, especially dalang, believe that demonic spirits (the Indian Natya Sastra calls them vigna) are being hostile and disruptive. The major indication of this demon-occupied stage is that the audience is not attentive. The performance atmosphere is busy and noisy, jokes fall flat and the dalang can feel it is a struggle to establish tranquillity and concentration. This is not  so different, in effect, to the response of Western actors to certain stages that are considered difficult to play, whereas others seem to always work well in spite of the show. In common with the dalang, many Western actors are also deeply superstitious and indulge in rituals. The fear of speaking out loud the word ‘Macbeth’ in a rehearsal room is a good example. In most theatres across Europe and North America, many actors are disturbed and upset by this breech of superstitious law and in some theatre companies, the guilty person must leave the room and ‘purify’ by uttering obscenities before returning to the room. Some theatres have even more detailed rules

of purification. In Bali, the dalang also resorts to systems to conquer the evil sprits who are trying to disrupt his work.

A more experienced dalang might exert extra-theatrical approaches to pacify demonic spirits through dedicating an appropriate offering, segehan, and reciting the incantations for demons. He might dedicate offerings at each corner of the building before the performance in order to appease the Butha Kala demons. However, the dalang is also practical and uses skill-based devices to conquer the space. Typically, a dalang may attempt to shorten his performance by rendering only the main plot and eliminating subsidiary stories. He may attempt to enliven the performance by improvising, making adjustments, expanding the dance sequences, elaborating fighting scenes and perhaps giving less attention to philosophy and diction. The performance becomes more acrobatic and less edifying, but the audience is happy.

Similar worries about the place of performance relate to direction, as thedalang must ensure that the staging is correctly orientated to the correct holy place. It is all part of the dalang’s sense of his spiritual role in addition to that of entertainer. To win God’s favour, the Wayang performance is mostly expected to face the shrine, towards the pure direction, to offer the performance for God. In case the booth for any reason does not face the holy direction, the dalang needs to adjust his direction internally or spiritually until he reaches the right direction and feels that he has shown the proper respect for the dwelling place of God; he tries to feel that he himself is the dwelling place of God. Only then can a performance begin and the dalang feel confident enough to face the many performance challenges ahead. In addition to all the preparation already explained, he is expected to deal with the unexpected. 

The unexpected includes, for example, the inability to find a specific puppet in the midst of rapid sequences involving the passing back and forth of numerous puppet characters in a battle sequence. Some dalang might grab another, probably a comic character, and desperately improvise until an assistant locates the absentee, but others would simply leave the screen blank and wait until it is right to continue. The dalang, spiritually ready, technically organised, flanked by his assistants and watched by a waiting orchestra, is ready to begin. The following description is fairly typical of a Wayang Kulit performance that is part of a temple event, although in this case it is by the young and popular dalang, I Wayan Nardayana. It took place at the temple Pura Desa of Batuan village on Monday, 27 March 2006 in conjunction with the village purification in anticipation of the upcoming Nyepi, lunar New Year. In general, it followed fairly typically the rules and sequences already described but a few surprises and departures are worth noting. This dalang already has a strong following and is the highest earning dalang in Bali; he is known for using clever humour and employing technical, special effects. Some more traditional dalang have some reservations about the way he innovates, but the audiences clearly adore his performances. Like any dalang, he will always be acutely aware of the audience response and vary his performance according to the immediate affect it is having.