'Madness' gives Enthus popularity<\/p>\n
Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Semarang<\/p>\n
A standard guideline, or pakem, is like a scary ghost for
\ntraditional artists. Many artists have been considered violators
\nof standard values, while others are said to pay little respect
\nto the noble values of our cultural legacy.<\/p>\n
It has frequently been the case, however, that the artist
\nwould simply like to interpret the pakem, which is abstract and
\nhas no clear parameters, and adjust it to the value system
\ndeveloping in society.<\/p>\n
Pakem is a gray area and in this context a person's interest
\nis the dominant factor in interpretation, especially when this
\nperson is accused of deviating from the guideline.<\/p>\n
The proof is that the people accused of violating the
\nprevailing pakem are mostly those who are successful in the
\nmarket. They have good fortune as they receive a lot of requests
\nfor performances.<\/p>\n
The controversy over Ki Enthus Susmono, a Javanese leather
\npuppet master, is a case in point. Hailing from Slawi, Tegal
\nregency, Central Java, he used to be the target of ridicule and
\ncriticism by academic experts of puppet mastery and several
\npopular puppet masters.<\/p>\n
Enthus includes in his performances such famous television
\ncharacters as Teletubbies or the Black Steel Hero.<\/p>\n
\"I have included the Teletubbies and other popular TV
\ncharacters to persuade children to enjoy shadow puppet shows. I
\nhope that, in this way, shadow puppet shows will not be eclipsed
\nby western arts, which are often more interesting,\" said Enthus.<\/p>\n
Enthus insists that he has deviated from the shadow puppet
\npakem. He argues that the additional imaginary characters he
\nincludes in his performances do not disturb the narrative or the
\nperformance on a whole.<\/p>\n
\"These characters will appear only in mock battles, in which
\nghosts or ogres, which are imaginary, too, will turn up.\"<\/p>\n
It is his \"eccentricity\" that makes him popular. The public
\naccept his presence and his performances always pack the venue.
\nHe receives four to 15 requests for performances a month for
\nabout Rp 25 million each.<\/p>\n
He also attempts to respond to the public by continuing to
\ndevelop his shadow puppets, either the leather or wooden ones.
\nSome 100 leather and wooden puppets of his own creation have just
\nbeen put on display at the Surakarta Indonesian Institute of
\nArts (STSI).<\/p>\n
Although his puppets still resemble the original characters in
\nterms of type and shape, their sizes are bigger and the color is
\nsuited to the need of the performance.<\/p>\n
To enrich his knowledge and maturity, Enthus is learning from
\nsome puppet master figures, such as Ki Manteb Sudarsono, about
\nsabet (techniques in making battle scenes) and dialog, and also
\nfrom puppet masters and lecturers on shadow puppet shows at STSI
\nSurakarta, Bambang Suwarno, about the types of shadow puppets.<\/p>\n
To enhance his skills, he has also taken lessons from several
\nwooden puppet masters in West Java, such as Asep Sunandar
\nSunarya, a Sundanese wooden puppet master.<\/p>\n
Enthus became a puppet master after his father, who was also
\none, died in 1983. His father, Sumaryo Diharjo, was a leather and
\ncepak wooden puppet master. Cepak wooden puppet shows are unique
\nto the northern coastal area of Java with stories about Amir
\nHamzah or the propagation of Islam in Java.<\/p>\n
\"As I had accompanied my father during his performances in
\nvarious places, logically his fans wanted me to replace him and I
\ncouldn't refuse. That was how I was compelled to learn how to
\nperform a shadow puppet show,\" said Enthus, adding that at the
\ntime he had just turned 18 and completed high school.<\/p>\n
Slowly but surely he began to make a name for himself. As he
\ndid not think he was good enough, he limited the frequency of his
\nshows and spent a lot of time learning from famous puppet
\nmasters.<\/p>\n
Enthus was a fast learner. Between late 1989 and early 1990 he
\nperformed shadow puppet shows for six full months on a very tight
\nschedule. In three days, he had performed twice and traveled to
\nother regencies.<\/p>\n
After winning widespread recognition, Enthus began to
\nexperiment in his shows and offered fresh ideas in puppet
\nmastery. Among other things, he included fictional characters,
\nsuch as the Black Steel Hero, Batman and many others in between
\nthe scenes of shadow puppet shows.<\/p>\n
He featured established shadow puppet characters, such as
\nGatotkaca in a flying position or ogre Dasamuka twice the
\noriginal size. Since the public did not object to this innovation
\nhe continued with his experiments.<\/p>\n
He is talented as a puppet master and has long hair and an
\nunconventional appearance.<\/p>\n
His good voice and mastery of dialogs, which feature different
\ncharacters' voices, as well as his excellent ability to perform
\nsabet and his mastery of gamelan music compositions have enabled
\nhim in a relatively short time to be on equal ground with his
\nseniors, such as Ki Anom Suroto and Ki Manteb Sudarsono of the
\nSurakarta style, Ki Hadi Sugito of Yogyakarta and Asep Sunandar
\nSunarya, who is a Sundanese wooden puppet master.<\/p>\n
However, Enthus is not completely free from accounting for his
\nethics in what he has experimented with as a puppet master. His
\ngood knowledge of religious teachings has lent weight to his
\nperformances, because the word dalang (puppet master) can be
\nconstrued as an acronym originating from two words ngudhal
\npiwulang, or propagating virtues. Unfortunately, in his
\nperformances he often uses obscene or suggestive phrases.<\/p>\n
His critics, such as Murtidjono, the head of the Central Java
\nCultural Park, said his use of obscenities could put his career
\nat risk.<\/p>\n
\"As he uses swear words too much, this will harm him and the
\nart of puppet mastery,\" Murtidjono said.<\/p>\n
Enthus lives with his second wife, Nurlaela, and they are
\nawaiting their fourth child. Enthus lives and runs his Satia Lara
\nworkshop out of Bengle village in the Talang district of Tegal
\nregency, which employs some 50 singers of traditional Javanese
\nsongs and gamelan players.<\/p>\n
The troupe is ready to travel to various cities in Indonesia
\nto accompany his shadow puppet shows. He has a bus, truck and car
\nready to take the troupe anywhere they are needed. Two sets of
\nleather puppets and wooden puppets plus two sets of gamelans are
\nready to accompany him wherever he performs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/madness-gives-enthus-popularity-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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