Taman Ismail Marzuki hosts Indonesian-European Puppet Week

JAKARTA (JP): They're everywhere in the world, and have been ever since man's fantasies, imagination and, of course, dexterity led to their creation.

Puppets -- from Jakarta's giant ondel-ondel to the tiny "hand- in-sock" and finger-operated Punch & Judy of England, Holland's Jan Klaassen and France's guignol, have been delighting children for centuries.

But puppetry is not for children only. It is a serious form of theater art -- witness Indonesia's wayang kulit (leather puppets), which are far, far older than wayang wong (human actors). In fact, wayang wong's accouterments and movements follow that of wayang kulit. Then there's Japan's bunraku, with its very life-like puppets, manipulated by men covered from head to toe in black robes.

It's the serious side of puppetry that will be on show for 10 days at Taman Ismail Marzuki's Teater Arena and Teater Tertutup, from May 24 to June 2. The event, the Indonesian-European Puppet Week 1994, is jointly organized by the Indonesian National Secretariat of Puppetry, Sena Wangi, Centre Culturel Francais, Goethe Institut, Erasmus Huis, The British Council and the Cultural Section of the embassy of Switzerland.

The idea to juxtapose Indonesian and European puppetry and their respective heritages and traditions actually came about two years ago. The uniqueness of the event is that whereas Indonesian puppet theater, which includes all types of wayang, has strong links with religion and spirituality, European puppet theater, through the works of writers and philosophers, unravels all there is about mankind's strengths and weaknesses, vices and virtues, dreams and nightmares, hope and despair.

The troupes of the participating countries are: from Germany -- the Duesseldorfer Marionetten Theater; from France -- the Temps Fort Theatre; the British Faulty Optics group; the Aaptheater from the Netherlands; Switzerland's Margrit Gysin while Indonesia is represented by the Wayang Kulit Kontemporer group led by Kasman and the Wayang Golek Kontemporer group directed by Asep S. Sunarya.

All groups have a wealth of story material at their disposal, ranging from centuries old sagas like the Mahabharata (Indonesia) to products that involve 20th century 3-D film animation (Faulty Optics). Performances that do not contain dialog (Theatre Fort), others that do (Aaptheater), and two that are based on operas (Duesseldorfer Marionetten Theater). De la Fontaine, Mozart, Orff, and the brothers Grimm are some of the authors and composers whose works have provided the inspiration for the groups.

Schedule

The performance schedule is as follows: May 24-25, Temps Fort Theatre at Teater Arena (8 p.m.); May 26-27, Duesseldorfer Marionetten Theater at Teater Tertutup (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.); May 28, Traditional Wayang Kulit at the President Hotel (8 p.m., by invitation only); May 29, Faulty Optics at Teater Arena (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.); May 30, Aaptheater at Teater Arena (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.); May 31, Contemporary Wayang Kulit at Teater Arena (8 p.m.); June 1, Margrit Gysin at Teater Arena (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.) and June 2, Contemporary Wayang Golek at Teater Arena (8 p.m.).

Entrance fees for the performances are Rp 3,000 for the 3 p.m. shows and Rp 5,000 for the 8 p.m. performances.

The week also includes two lecture demonstrations -- one held by the Temps Fort Theatre at Teater Arena on May 25 at 10 a.m., and the other by the Duesseldorfer Marionetten Theater at Teater Tertutup on May 28 also at 10 a.m. A workshop will be held by Faulty Optics and Aaptheater at the Teater Tertutup on May 31 at 10 a.m.

-- Gus Kairupan