'Wayang suket': A hilarious contemporary art form

'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)