'Wayang Kancil', alternative storytelling

'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.