Up-and-coming puppet master Nanang Hape

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the Mahabharata epic, ascetic Kanika gives two hints to King Duryudana, the eldest of the Kurawa knights, on how to stay in power.

First, never let an intelligent person remain in a suitable position for a long period of time; otherwise, the person will grow powerful and may cause harm. Second, use wealth, power and sex as the weapons to strengthen your hold on people, and if these three things fail -- which is unlikely -- just get rid of the person.

In passionate mode, up-and-coming puppet master Nanang Hape gave the illustration as an example of how true to life are the stories told in wayang (shadow puppet plays).

"Wayang has endured for over 10 centuries. Its ability to adjust is amazing ... the moral of the stories has a timeless applicability. That's why I have no fear that wayang will fade away and vanish," said the 29-year-old puppet master.

Apart from the fact that the arts have always commanded a wide audience and have been supported by many artisans, he believes that God has helped to maintain the distinctive Indonesian art form.

Nanang said he often encountered children as young as five who, out of the blue, favored wayang very much and wanted to learn to be puppeteer, although they had grown up in large cities and their families had not introduced them to wayang plays or stories.

"I believe what goes around comes around; everything comes full circle. The talent that existed hitherto is suddenly transferred to a child in a cosmopolitan city like Jakarta. Of course, people can learn the skill, but there are kids who are born with a talent for the art," said Nanang, who once worked as a film editor.

For him, being a puppet master, or a dalang, has been somewhat fateful, too, as he did not show any interest in it until he graduated from high school.

Born Nanang Henri Priyanto, in Ponorogo, East Java, he would probably have been an engineer as he greatly enjoyed science.

But a two-year break after high school, due to his parents' inability to afford college tuition fees, gave him an acquaintance with local artistes, including puppet masters.

As a fan of wayang since he was a small child, he absorbed the art form and eventually enrolled at the Indonesian Arts Institute (STSI) in the Central Java city, Surakarta, taking puppetry as his major.

Selected as the best STSI graduate in his year, many thought Nanang would be the next best exponent of the art.

He has won several competitions and performed in a wide range of gigs here, as well as abroad, such as a tour last year in Portugal. This month, he is among Indonesian artistes chosen to perform in the Cultural Olympiad in Greece.

Nanang has worked across artistic boundaries, collaborating with classical and jazz musicians, and in opera and ballet.

Last year, for instance, he used Javanese puppets in Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet, Sleeping Beauty, while pianist Ary Sutedja played music from the classic work.

Last year, Nanang performed the Mahabharata set to jazz and wayang on the bus, with violinist Luluk Purwanto, and collaborated with an operatic performance while in Portugal.

"Different ways of performing wayang are my way of giving a more entertaining performance. It's a different era now: Not everyone has the patience to watch a 12-hour play, which is very static; plus, it's all in Javanese," said Nanang, who is married to fellow STSI graduate Widyarsi Kristiani Putri, a dancer.

His love of science turned out to be useful as he uses a variety of lighting effects and props to produce a more stunning impact.

Nanang drew the line, however, between giving a more entertaining performance and crass commercialism, which, sadly, has become a trend in the world of wayang.

Although wayang has always existed, half of the play is now taken up by singing and dancing, especially dangdut (popular music with Indian/Arab influences), which used to occupy only a small portion of the whole play.

"It makes people think that a true wayang play is like that -- pure entertainment and fun. Anything else -- the original, traditional wayang play -- is regarded as bad. Worse still, audiences get drunk and cause trouble," Nanang said.

Puppet masters then began to play to full houses, as the new style of performance was what people watched.

He had a bad experience while performing a traditional wayang play in his hometown several years back. As he refused to include dangdut, the audience went ballistic and threw stones at the stage. Luckily, he was not injured.

"I wasn't afraid, I didn't run. I'm totally focused once on stage. The experience was kind of cool," smiled Nanang.

Instead of exploiting traditional wayang, he said, people should find a completely different form of artistic expression, whether dangdut, rock, or even obscene wayang.

"It's like classical music and other contemporary music. Any kind of music can be developed, but you leave classical music alone, because it's like a musical blueprint. That also goes for wayang," he said.

Wayang, he added, was so much more than an artistic performance. It provides a way to criticize something, to contemplate, to produce enlightenment or to spread good moral values.

Purists also have to be left alone, according to Nanang, for, in spite of their inflexibility to new things, they have a role in maintaining the purity of traditional wayang.

As for Nanang, he vowed to maintain and improve the art, as well as finding new, interesting forms. One way is through his Kayon Miring community, where young children are taught to be puppet masters, as well as performers.

This September, for instance, he will tour Central Java, performing sandosa wayang, played in Bahasa Indonesia instead of Javanese, using cinematic visualization.

He also collaborates still with artistes from other ethnic groups, or different artistic traditions.

"The basis of what I do is still wayang. I've worked in several professions, but nothing gives me the satisfaction and vitality of what I'm doing now. It's in my blood: I'd die for it if I had to."