'Wayang Kancil', alternative storytelling
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Once upon a time, Macanan village, where a macan (tiger) community lived, was hit by major drought, causing severe starvation. Macan Loreng, the village head, then decided to allow the villagers to look for food outside the village.
Unfortunately, the same drought had also hit other villages, including Munyukan, where munyuk (monkeys) lived. All the animals in the forest suffered from the drought, which had occurred due to human recklessness.
That was the story told through a wayang kancil (shadow puppet) show recently staged at the Institute of Javanese Studies in Tembi, Bantul. The show was presented by two local puppeteers, Eddy Pursubaryanto and Ki Ledjar Soebroto, who performed alternately that night.
Just like other conventional shadow leather puppet shows, wayang kancil also used leather puppets, except that in this show, all the characters were animals.
The performances presented a very popular fable about a clever mouse deer, locally known as a kancil, with children as the main target audience.
But according to wayang kancil puppeteer Eddy Pursubaryanto, who is also a lecturer at Gadjah Mada University's School of Literature, wayang kancil could also be used to tell non-Javanese Kancil stories. Stories from Aceh about the mouse deer's cleverness were often performed in the wayang kancil show.
The way a wayang kancil is performed is similar to the staging of a conventional Javanese shadow leather puppet show -- even the way the puppet characters are arranged on the kelir (screen).
Wild animals, representing bad characters like tigers, lions, crocodiles and wild pigs, are placed on the left-hand side, while tame animals, representing good guys like deer, birds, cows, fish and horses, are placed on the right-hand side of the screen.
Similarly, the accompanying traditional Javanese gamelan music, the plot, the sinden (singers) and the songs resemble those in conventional shadow leather puppet shows. Even wayang kancil puppeteers are also required to master conventional performance first before performing this particular puppet show.
The difference between wayang kancil and conventional shadow leather puppet shows is mainly its duration. Conventional performances are usually staged for the whole night, while wayang kancil is performed for few hours only.
Eddy Pursubaryanto said wayang kancil was considered new in the country but literature on this particular performance already existed. Sarah Bilby of the University of London, for example, wrote Wayang Kancil: Perceptions of Tradition and Identity in Contemporary Javanese Shadow Play in 1997 and Wayang Kancil: The Short Tale of a Small Deer in 1999.
Some have even studied and learned wayang kancil since the early 1920s. Wayang kancil puppeteer R.M Sajid of Surakarta, Central Java, for instance, studied it since 1927, and also made his own wayang kancil puppet set in 1943.
Recent developments, however, indicate only a few still have the interest to study wayang kancil. Among these rare people are Eddy Pursubaryanto and Ki Ledjar Soebroto of Yogyakarta.
Through wayang kancil, they have presented kancil stories and in the performances, teach children about morals and the need to preserve nature, including rare animals.
"Wayang kancil can indeed be an effective education medium to understand real life, along with its problems and possible solutions. The kancil story, just like others, offers the audience, as well as the puppeteers, an alternative way of life," Eddy Pursubaryanto said.