'Wayang suket': A hilarious contemporary art form

JAKARTA (JP): A scene of simplicity predominated the stage. The hall at the Japanese Cultural Center was halved for the wayang suket (straw puppet) and for the audience.

Pieces of straw were all over the stage. A set of kenong (small gongs), a large gong, a big drum, a guitar and some straw puppets were scattered on the floor. A large white linen screen hung loosely on the wall.

The scene may have reminded country folk of fields where people tend goats, buffaloes and cows. The audience occasionally burst into laughter at the frivolous announcements about someone losing a wrist watch, a pair of thongs and a Kijang. It was all part of the show which would soon begin.

Soon all eyes were set on a fat man in black who rambled by and dropped himself on the floor at the left corner of the stage. He was the anxiously awaited dalang (puppeteer) Slamet Gundono.

Unlike the traditional Javanese leather puppet, which begins with the dalang doing a brief ritual amid soulful mystical music, Slamet started with a monologue about the meaning of brotherhood and togetherness, by telling jokes, singing and strumming the guitar.

As he entertained the audience's heart, troupe members in folk attire started raiding the stage noisily, yelling, laughing, joking and making Slamet the butt of their jokes.

Was this a comedy, a play or a wayang show as the committee had promised?

It was a multimedia wayang suket created by Slamet, a 33-year- old Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) and Surakarta Arts College (STSI) alumnus. The show was a blend of theater, music and dance. The April 14 show in Jakarta was his second after he performed in Surakarta the previous week.

The story was Anak Lanang Putra Matahari (Son of the Sun) from the Mahabarata epic.

It tells of Kunthi who was forced to throw her baby boy, Karna, in the Ganges River because he was the result of her affair with Batara Surya, the sun god. Karna was rescued by Adirata, a chariot driver of Astina, and he later became a leader of the Astina kingdom thanks to his outstanding wit.

In the Baratayuda war, Karna has to confront Arjuna, his half brother (Kunthi's son with her husband Pandhu). Either Karna or Arjuna must die in the war and Kunthi has to decide which one will.

Child's play

In wayang suket, the whole story is narrated by the dalang and only two straw puppets are briefly used to visualize the story.

The basic concept of wayang suket is to show children playing. So the stage is set up like a pelataran (children's playground in a village) and the show does not follow a rigid pakem (guidebook).

As all of the 15 supporting artists, who also play musical instruments, were free to talk and interrupt the dalang, the theatrical discussions would easily shift from one topic to another, back and forth.

So when Slamet earnestly narrated the difficult situation facing Kunthi, a villager broke in, carrying a coop with three ducks announcing he had lots of eggs stolen. He violently insisted that eggs were definitely "more important" than listening to the dalang.

The noisy argument that followed dragged on as far as alluding the big generals and bureaucrats who like plundering state property. Slamet, who stayed silent, was accused of acting like the former big hotshot dogged by corruption charges who pretended to be ill just to evade court action.

The dalang and his supporting artists were extremely interactive. When Slamet crawled around to dramatize a story, an artist came and danced on his back. When the dalang sat up, he had his enormous pot belly rhythmically struck like a gong to steady music.

Despite all the seemingly chaotic scenes, the show managed to get morals across like the conventional wayang does. In his narration, the dalang preached the good of harmony and the evil of conflict, which has ravaged places like Maluku, Aceh and Lombok.

Power of life

Slamet is the one who has elevated the straw puppet status to a performing art. The inspiration came during his childhood in his home village of Tegal, Central Java, where wayang-loving children make puppets from straw while they tend their cattle.

"They love wayang as performed by famous dalang like Anom Suroto. But leather puppets are too expensive so they make them from straw," he said backstage.

His college education allowed him to innovate the wayang suket as he performed. But why straw? "Philosophically, straw symbolizes the extraordinary power of life. Grass may be cut, stampeded, crushed ... but it will grow again with the same vitality. It is also an important source of life for animals and it is my great inspiration," he said.

Slamet is a self-proclaimed admirer of Kunthi and Karna, who he described as "characters of great depth and complexity". Since early in his career in 1995, he has performed multimedia wayang shows with the theme of Kunthi and Karna, such as Karna Tanding (Karna at War), Karna Tan Tinandingan (Karna the Invincible) and Apologi Karna.

His experimental art has earned him travel to faraway countries like Britain, Germany, The Netherlands and Japan for performances.

Slamet, the comical entertainer, offered a hilarious contemporary wayang suket which relates the truth in Mahabarata with present-day bitter realities. (pan)