Straw puppets to appear at Atma Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): After taking his wayang suket (straw puppet) skills to Bogor, Bandung, Riau and even as far away as Berlin in Germany, puppeteer Slamet Gundono is bringing his hilarious contemporary show to Atma Jaya Catholic University campus on Monday evening.

The piece, which is entitled Kelingan Lamun Kelangan, is taken from the epic Mahabharata and will be staged in Indonesian rather than Javanese, the traditional language of wayang.

The story centers on the ordeal of Kunthi, who has to a make difficult choice between her sons Arjuna and Karna in the Baratayudha war. Arjuna is her son from her husband Pandhu, while Karna was born out of an affair with the sun god Batara Surya. One of Kunthi's sons must die in the war.

"Kunthi represents the Earth Mother, while Arjuna and Karna can be anyone -- students, Acehnese, Jakartans, Ambonese or even East Timorese ... ," explained Slamet philosophically in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.

The puppet show, which starts at 7:30 p.m. and finishes at 10 p.m., is jointly organized by the university and Eksotika Karmawibhangga Indonesia (EKI) productions.

In his exploration, the puppeteer, who has elevated the status of straw puppetry to a performing art, will be assisted by dancer-choreographer Mugiyono, playwright Manindawan from Gidag- Gidig Theater in Surakarta, Central Java, and artistic directors Sugeng Yeah and Henky Rivai.

After the show at the campus, Slamet will get himself ready for the straw puppet and multimedia puppet shows that will be staged at the Puppet Festival 2000 at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah park in East Jakarta. Other popular puppeteers, such as Sujiwo Tejo and Ki Manteb, are also scheduled to take part in the festival. (ste)