'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.