'Kondom' shows us how fragile we are
'Kondom' shows us how fragile we are
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta
A puppeteer strummed a guitar and danced around on the stage.
Why not?
On Friday night, puppeteer Slamet Gundono did just that. Even
more startling, for traditionalists, the notoriously contemporary
puppeteer did not dress like a normal dalang, or puppet master,
in traditional Javanese clothes. That night, barefooted, Slamet
sported a red T-shirt and cream-colored shorts.
A striped sarong hung loosely around his neck and a guitar
belt encircled his rather large waist.
It was not like an ordinary shadow play. There was no line of
sinden, or female singers, around the gamelan players.
Slamet was accompanied by Frenchwoman Elizabeth D. Inandiak.
She did not sing like Javanese female singers do; rather she
recited suluk-suluk, or ancient Javanese lyrics.
Only a few puppets were used instead of the hundreds at
ordinary shadow plays.
That was the scene at the 90-minute Wayang Kondom, or condom
shadow play, a collaboration between Slamet and Inandiak. That
night at the Yogyakarta Bentara Budaya hall they took episodes
from the old manuscripts Serat Centhini (Centhini's Letters) and
Minggatnya Cebolang (Cebolang Left)
Slamet said he was using condoms in his show to demonstrate
his concern over the cluttering of morality in the country.
"As humans, we all have limits, but most of the time we just
step over them. We forget that only God is limitless," said
Slamet.
"Our age has limits, wealth has limits, but the only thing
that we can easily understand the limits of is a condom," he
said.
"I find the limitations in Cebolang's character. I picked
condoms not for the sake of some bombastic cause, but because
condoms are the only thing that people today understand the
limits of," the stout puppeteer said.
Minggatnya Cebolang tells the story of a handsome man, named
Cebolang, who leaves his house to find his identity. Cebolang is
a dancer and is portrayed as a bit feminine.
Every time Cebolang dances, both women and men are charmed by
his movements and his dancing eyes.
Cebolang is the only child of Syekh Akhadiyat, a solemn
spiritual leader.
In his adventures, Cebolang loses all understanding of
commitment, morals and virtues. What matters to him is the
pleasure of sex, so much so that he rapes the wife of a local
official whom he lusts after. He also savors a sexual adventure
with an adipati (a regent in modern times).
But Cebolang is only human, so there comes a point where he
must end his adventure. This point, which he cannot resist, is
when he comes across the source of holy water, which purifies his
mind and heart.
"The Minggatnya Cebolang shows us how humans have limitations
and have to have principles in life, and not try to act as rivals
with our Creator," Slamet said.
For the show, the puppets were covered with condoms. Dozens of
condoms were blown up like balloons and placed randomly around
the stage.
Inandiak, who initiated the translation of Serat Centhini into
French said she saw some resemblance in the themes of ancient
Javanese stories with ancient stories from other cultures.
Slamet and Inandiak met at a cultural event in Surakarta last
month. During that first meeting Inandiak, told Slamet about her
recent work translating the Javanese manuscript into French.
They then agreed to collaborate to stage one of the episodes
from the manuscript.
"I want my years of work to be seen, in any form. It happened
that I met Slamet and following a lengthy discussion we agreed to
this shadow play medium," Inandiak said.