Betawi theater groups face hard times

Betawi theater groups face hard times

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

What is the connection between the Betawi (native Jakartan) folk
theater lenong and English playwright William Shakespeare?

You may thing that question is a joke, that there could be no
possible connection between the two. Well, there is.

Unbeknownst to many people, before the 1980s lenong theater
groups would occasionally adapt Shakespeare plays. During this
period, native Jakartans were treated to versions of
Shakespeare's Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet, which were played
lenong theater-style; on the ground surrounded by audience
members who also sat on the ground.

Lenong theater is one of the most popular forms of Betawi
theater in the country today.

Television viewers probably still remember the comedy Lenong
Rumpi, which was aired by RCTI, and Lenong Bocah on TPI
in the early 1990s.

While most Jakartans are probably familiar with the
television-version of lenong theater, only some are likely to
have seen a live lenong theater performance, which lasts the
whole night.

It is quite common for your casual observer of Betawi theater
to mix up lenong with another type of Betawi theater, topeng,
according to Betawi cultural observer S.M. Ardan.

Bokir, Nasir or Mandra are all known as lenong artists, when
in point of fact they are topeng artists, according to Ardan.

Lenong theater performances are accompanied by a gambang
kromong orchestra, while the topeng is accompanied by a gamelan
orchestra, like the one that accompanies the topeng dance in
Cirebon, West Java.

Unlike a gamelan orchestra, a gambang kromong orchestra
explores the use of stringed musical instruments.

Since the death several years ago of Ibu Siti, who used to
perform at the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center, there are no
well known lenong artists left in the city.

Bokir explained that lenong and topeng were both types of
Betawi theater, but with several differences between them.

Lenong theater involves artists more from the center of
Jakarta, while artists in the topeng theater come from the city's
outskirts, such as Bekasi, Tangerang or Bogor.

Lenong artists have different accents from topeng artists. A
lenong artist says lu (you), gue (I), ape (what) and
kenape (why), while a topeng artist says luh (you), guah (I),
apah (what) and ngapah (why).

Topeng features dramas, while lenong is more about action.
Both are humorous. So viewers should not expect a lenong version
of Romeo and Juliet to be serious, but more comedy and action.

A lenong theater performance opens with a song, while topeng
begins with a dance.

Lenong artists, as in other folks theater traditions, never
use a script. It all depends on the artists' improvisations,
Ardan said.

Lenong first emerged in the 19th century, and was influenced
greatly by Chinese culture, especially the music of the gambang
kromong.

"In the past, Chinese people acted as cukong (bosses) who
financed the plays. Some of them even became lenong artists,"
Bokir said.

This Betawi theater tradition was also influenced by Persian
theater, which is filled with a lot of humor.

Before the 1960s, lenong performances took place without a
stage, with performers and audiences sitting on the ground.
Lenong groups would travel from place to place, giving
performances whenever enough people had gathered and the artists
had collected money from the spectators.

Later, lenong theater groups began to use stages and
auditoriums as public spaces in the city began to disappear
before the relentless onslaught of new construction.

Now, lenong groups only perform when hired, usually for
weddings and circumcision parties.

There are about 40 lenong and topeng groups in the city. Each
group consists of about 30 people, though artists often belong to
more than one group.

"A group performs an average of six or eight times a month,
making about Rp 500,000 (US$55) per performance," Ardan said.

In order to survive, many of the artists hold down day jobs,
such as doing construction or running small food stalls.

The development of lenong theater is always up and down,
according to Ardan.

"Lenong theater groups are not good at adapting to speedy
developments in Jakarta. They just keep on acting until one night
modern people don't have the time to watch a full play,"
commented Ardan, a Betawi who was born on Feb. 2, 1932.

Another factor is that the current administration pays little
attention to the folk arts here, he added.

In 1968, the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center provided space
for traditional lenong theater performances.

"But now the open space for the folk performances is damaged,
and the administration has done nothing to restore it.
Ironically, it instead chose to use money to erect a monument at
the gates (to the arts center)," he remarked.

Providing the space for lenong theater groups to perform would
be a way to preserve the local culture, Ardan said.

Traditionally, the children of lenong artists follow their
parents into the profession. However, this tradition could end if
the young generations do not believe that they can make a decent
living in the theater.

"Just give them (lenong artists) the opportunity to perform so
they can improve their welfare. If they see the older artists are
making a good living, the young generation of lenong artists will
gravitate toward the profession," he said.