'Kethoprak' used to deliver political message

'Kethoprak' used to deliver political message

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

"You, the old lady over there, will you vote for a corrupt
candidate ... or a candidate who does not respect human rights,
discriminates against women and is not friendly to the
environment? You won't, will you?" a kethoprak (Javanese
traditional drama) player said to the audience.

A loud and long "No" was the response of the audience.

This was not part of a political party campaign, yet the
traditional art performance was loaded with political messages
and moral lessons.

Performed by a troupe of kethoprak artists from the regions of
Bantul, Yogyakarta and Sleman, the performance of Alap-Alap
Pertiwi was like any other ordinary kethoprak performance -- the
costumes, stage setting, accompanying gamelan orchestra, the use
of Javanese language and the plot.

Bondan Nusantara, who acted in and directed the kethoprak
performance, also wrote the script for Alap-Alap Pertiwi, which
was staged last week at Rumah Budaya Tembi (Tembi Cultural House)
in Bantul.

Bondan said the traditional drama had a strategic role and
function in the community, which explained why it was adopted as
a tool for moral improvement and as a way to campaign against
crooked politicians.

Kethoprak is not just entertaining, but also provides the
community with positive messages through themes that directly
touch upon their lives.

Alap-Alap Pertiwi was about King Manggarmoyo of the Nuso Rukmi
Kingdom, who was plagued by the question of his succession. The
king found it difficult to name one of his three sons the crown
prince because all three, from three different wives, wanted the
position.

His royal spiritual adviser, Resi Waskito, then announces a
competition for the three princes: bring home Endang Pertiwi, a
girl from the village of Ketonggo, and make her their wife.

Watching the performance and listening to the dialog, audience
members could not but help pick up on the subtext. The story
encouraged people to use their conscience instead of their
emotion in voting in the coming elections.

It was full of provocation, in a good sense, of course,
suggesting voters not vote for crooked politicians. It also
provided a lot of information about what exactly made a
politician crooked.

"Yes, this is indeed part of our 'anti-crooked politician
campaign' that we have been conducting ahead of the general
election," said Arie Sujito, chairman of the Yogyakarta Committee
for the Indonesian Movement, which co-organized the performance
along with the Forum of Kethoprak Artists of Three Regions.

Last week's performance, jointly sponsored by the Institute of
Research and Empowerment, the Cemeti Art Foundation and the Tembi
Cultural House, was the first of some 10 planned performances to
be held across the province ahead of the legislative election on
April 5.

"We also plan to put on a series of kethoprak performances to
campaigning against crooked presidential candidates ahead of the
presidential election on July 5," he said.

Kethoprak, according to Arie, was chosen for the campaign
because it is considered to be a relatively effective medium for
conveying messages aimed at the grassroots level of the
community.

In fact, although the performance of Alap-Alap Pertiwi was
organized as part of the campaign against crooked politicians,
its entertainment aspects were still dominant. The serious
messages of the performance were finely blended within the dialog
between characters in the story.

In an exchange between King Manggarmoyo and the queen, for
example, the queen reminds the king that if he had taken her
advice and not taken more than one wife, he would not be troubled
by questions of succession.

Another message was conveyed in a similar manner when Endang
Pertiwi, whose name symbolizes the homeland (pertiwi literally
means earth in Javanese), set down conditions that had to be met
before she agreed to marry any of the princes.

She said she would only marry one of the princes if the people
of the kingdom were given the freedom to elect their king and
were not forced to vote for any particular prince. She also said
she would only marry the prince who was elected the next king by
the people, and required the losers to accept the decision of the
people.

Other messages, including one regarding a peaceful election,
the importance of voting for a legislative candidate and not just
a political party and how to deal with money politics in the
election, were also contained in the performance.

Of course, there is no guarantee that such a performance will
have any effect on voters, especially after living under a
repressive regime for over 30 years.

"We don't think that kethoprak itself will be enough. That's
why we also are providing the community with several assistance
programs, including providing them with the track records of the
legislative candidates, especially those that directly have
something to do with their interests," Arie said.