Gambuh Classical Performance Part II

Several local terms for characterisation that overlap one another include tokoh (personality) that dramatically relates to the gender of the character; watak (profile) that practically relates to the acting style of the character; and peran (role) that theatrically relates to a character’s function in a genre, or simply karakter that relates to the allies or coalition of their characters. Five characterisations exist, based on gender, type, genre, affiliation/alliance and social status.

Characterisation from the perspective of gender lays a primary emphasis on the story or dramatic text, so that all characters in the play first are identified based on their gender: male, female or androgynous. In Gambuh, this gender perspective helps a dancer to define the standard voice into three broad divisions: low voice identifies male characters;

medium voice identifies androgynous characters; and high voice identifies female characters. The narrative source, the Panji/Malat poem that tells the gender of each dramatic character, helps the dancer to further elaborate this division in greater detail. A distinctive attribute and stratified position of each dramatic character determines the appropriate languages in accordance with the three hierarchical linguistic manners/levels: high, middle and low. The Panji Malat poem also gives a fixed phrase of verse or song that is appropriate to accompany each character and mentions a specific weapon and vehicle that should be used by and associated with a specific character. Characterisation from the perspective of type or acting style puts most emphasis on the vocabulary of the performers’ movements, gestures and coded body positions. In a dance-drama genre such as Gambuh, this perspective belongs to, and is used by, the practitioners to communicate among themselves, i.e. the actors, actresses and the instructor. Consequently, these artists develop several terms for coded body gestures or movements such as gagah (tough in a male way), lemuh (gentle), sengap (a mixture of rushed and tense), or ngenduk (soft, associated with a certain character). This typebased character list includes: keras (strong) or kasar (harsh) – the knight Kebo Angun-angun or Prabangsa; manis (sweet) or halus (soft) – prince Panji or princess Putri; serem (frightening or magical) – the demon Denawa or the witch Raksasa; and banyol (farce) or kocak (loose or shaky) – the comic servants/courtiers Demang or Tumenggung. Characterisation from a genre perspective puts great emphasis on the form or genre of the performance. Consequently, each genre such as Gambuh, Topeng and Arja has its major distinctive stock characters. For example, in the genre of Arja opera, the stock scene characters include Condong the maid servant, Galuh the princess, Desak/Made Rai the coquette servants, Limbur the queen, Liku the coquette princess, Punta and Wijil the male paired servants, Mantri Manis the sweet prince, and the Mantri Buduh the crazy prodigal prince. This also allows us to list cogent stock scene characters of other genres. In all types of Wayang, the stock characters include a group of comic servants (panasar), male and female folk characters (panjak), soldiers/fighters (balayuda), a sage or priest (rsi), a king (raja) and a queen (ratu), a prince (putra) and a princess (putri), one or several prime ministers (patih), a few comic courtiers such as Dusasana (raja buduh) and monsters (raksasa) or demonic characters (detya) who are both male and female. The audience appreciates and often expects improvisational interpretation of each stock character. For example, the comic servants/courtiers typically present farcical interludes or social commentaries. A sage is expected to reinforce moral order; a folk character presents hegemonic criticism, etc.

Characterisation connected to alliance emphasises a group of human or non-human characters. All characters, therefore, are grouped according to their coalition or affiliation in Balinese performance as a whole. The affiliation-based characterisation of Wayang Parwa, for example, may be divided into three sub-groups: celestial beings, human beings and demonic beings. The human beings may be further divided into good and bad characters. In her book Dancing Shadows of Bali, Angela Hobart (1987: 46–56) divides Wayang characters into six divisions: heavenly beings, those of high caste, ogres, mythical creatures, servants and scenic figures. Each group has a set hierarchical and moral order, representing an eternal moral law. Since all puppets are analogues to living creatures, mythical figures and trees may also be categorised as characters. Consequently, another way to understand the stock characters is by looking at them in subgroups. All the following have many subgroups: gods and goddesses, titans, angels, heavenly priests, mythical figures, human beings, animals, birds, demonic beings, trees and several scenic figures. Social status divisions also form characterisation, which is seen in every genre. Such status-based characters include a king (raja) and a queen (ratu), a sage or priest (rsi), a prince (putra) and a princess (putri), prime ministers (patih), servants (panasar), folk characters (panjak) and soldiers/ fighters (balayuda).

The ultimate feature in the performance of Gambuh is character. Unlike in the West, dramatic characters only needs a motivation as the subtext springboard to perform their action without the need for complex, psychological detail. In Gambuh, each character is associated with several distinctive visual, audio and verbal elements to be able to perform: music, with various repertoires and instruments; dance, with stylistic body gestures; vocabulary of movements and narrative devices containing speech, diction and songs. The further subdivisions include various costumes and other related theatrical components, selected and integrated to build a certain character as the ultimate objective.