American puppet-master takes to the stage<\/p>\n
By Emma Cameron<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An English language shadow puppet (wayang kulit)
\nperformance to be held here on Sunday is already sold out.<\/p>\n
The performance will be held by the Indonesian-American
\nFriendship Association (PPIA) on Sunday at 7 p.m. at LIA's
\nPengadegan campus, South Jakarta, by puppet-master (dalang) Marc
\nHoffman from America.<\/p>\n
The show is a celebration of 50 years of diplomatic ties
\nbetween Indonesia and the U.S. and 40 years since the founding of
\nthe Indonesia-America Foundation which went on to become PPIA
\nand the Indonesia-America Foundation (LIA).<\/p>\n
The story to be shown, Kikis Tunggorono (The Tunggorono
\nBorder), was chosen by Hoffman because it has "a lot of issues
\nthat are current and that I think will be challenging."<\/p>\n
It begins with the five Pandawa brothers from the Mahabarata
\nepic, cheated out of their legitimate ascension to the throne of
\nthe kingdom of Amarta by their cousins, the hundred Kurawas. All
\nthis was the plan of the wily and deceitful Sangkuni, then Prime
\nMinister of Astina -- the place in which the Pandawa's
\nestablished a kingdom while they gathered power.<\/p>\n
The free performance has already proved popular, giving
\nviewers the opportunity to see the well-known Javanese story.<\/p>\n
However, despite the performance's interpretation into
\nEnglish, the puppet show is not confined simply to an Anglo-Saxon
\naudience. Hoffman is well aware of his English speaking
\nIndonesian audience.<\/p>\n
He believes his foreign status gives him the duality to
\nprovide a bridge between the two cultures and languages. "That's
\nwhat I know about, to put in that intersection," he said.<\/p>\n
Hoffman was originally an art student at the California
\nInstitute of Arts in Los Angeles when he was first introduced to
\nshadow puppetry. Oemartopo, a puppet-master, was teaching the art
\nin L.A. and inspired a love of Shadow Puppetry in Hoffman that
\nled him eventually to PDMN (the Mangkunegaran dalang school in
\nSurakarta).<\/p>\n
Hoffman is unhappy with those who say that only Javanese
\ncitizens can become true puppet-masters, seeing no difference
\nbetween what he is doing to an Indonesian playing in a classical
\norchestra.<\/p>\n
Javanese shadow puppetry has no scripts which means puppeteers
\nmust reinterpret each story, with the character of the clown-
\nservant allowed to comment directly on contemporary issues.<\/p>\n
When a comparison to the recent wave of 'modern' Shakespeare
\nin film and theater was made, Hoffman said that shadow puppetry
\nwas more flexible "You can say things, you can put in scenes.
\nIt's a lot more adaptable". However, he did feel that in the
\noriginal time of Shakespeare, before his works became almost as
\nsacred as the Bible and not to be tampered with, the similarity
\nto shadow puppetry was much more striking.<\/p>\n
Hoffman operates under the assumption that his audience knows
\nnothing of the myths and story cycles that are performed in
\nshadow puppetry, although he admits any knowledge of Javanese
\nculture and history would be an advantage. Shadow puppetry
\nperformed in Javanese can focus on things such as clothing,
\nwhereas Hoffman is more concerned with personalities and creating
\na sense of character. Primarily, he is about creating good
\ntheater, which for Hoffman means combining the classical with the
\ncontemporary, along with a certain amount of 'soap opera'
\nquality.<\/p>\n
Hoffman has performed many times, not only in Indonesia but
\nalso in the United States. Most recently, he has performed at
\nRadio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Jakarta, St. Mary's College of
\nMaryland and the new Wayang Building in the vicinity of Taman
\nMini Indonesia Indah.<\/p>\n
He finds it easier to perform in Indonesia simply because of
\nthe availability of professional musicians to prepare with. He is
\nwary of schedules in the U.S. which are too demanding and "can
\nburn people out".<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/american-puppet-master-takes-to-the-stage-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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