Ancient Theater Kept Alive: Jakarta, West Java

By Barrie | June 20th, 2007 | No Comments

The lights went out inside the Bharata Wayang Orang Theater in Senen, Central Jakarta. The dim sound of the traditional gamelan orchestra gained in intensity, silencing the chatter of the audience. The dark maroon curtain lifted to reveal performers in colorful traditional costumes. The show had begun.

Standing on the stage, the performers began singing lines from the Hindu Ramayana epic in the high Javanese language.

Men dressed as well known characters such as the monkey Hanuman and the giant Rahwana danced to the music of the gamelan.

The dance moves depicted the battle between Hanuman’s monkey troops and Rahwana’s army of giants. The audience clapped and shouted with awe at the cast’s acrobatic lunges.
It was an unusually packed house in the 300-seat theater on Saturday night.

The head of the theater, Marsam Mulyo Atmojo, said only 30 percent of the seats were usually filled at that time of the week.

“We’re facing a lot of competition from other types of Saturday night entertainment,” he said.

But last Saturday was a rare occasion. The theater’s air-conditioner struggled to contend with the heat coming from the packed audience.

Inside the dressing room, it was hot and humid. Fans twirled overhead as the cast put on their make-up and costumes. The faces of the cast were eager, betraying no signs of being bothered by the heat.

Little children playing monkey troops in red, green, and yellow costumes and masks sat backstage.

Amid the plethora of modern entertainment in the city — its malls, clubs and movie theaters — the Bharata Wayang Orang Theater has worked to keep the traditional Javanese art of Wayang Orang alive.

Despite low pay and small audiences, artists from the Bharata group dance and sing from their hearts.

“It’s a personal calling,” director Slameto said.

“I love performing. When I’m on stage, I get sucked into the play and forget about life’s problems. My mind is focused on playing well,” he said.

After a four year hiatus while the building was renovated, the Baharata Wayang Orang Theater — the only one of its kind in Jakarta — began performing again in December 2005.

“But because of a lack of funding and poor promotion it’s hard to attract new people to see us,” Marsam said.

Visitors to the theater were usually middle and upper class Javanese living in Jakarta, he said.

“The audiences are usually old, and I rarely see youngsters here unless they are sons and daughters of our cast,” he said.

The group was established in 1972. In its heyday before the renovation, the theater performed every day and successfully drew in foreign tourists.

“After the four-year void, it was quite a challenge for us to increase our audience numbers,” he said.

However, Marsam said the situation in Jakarta was better than in Semarang or even Solo, the center of Wayang Orang.

“In Semarang, I’ve been to a show where there was only 18 people in the audience.

“The audiences here (in Jakarta) are usually of Javanese descent and longing for traditional art from back home,” he said.

According to Slameto, the theater was having trouble recruiting new people to the ensemble. The regeneration of the group usually came through family ties.

“We don’t have a dancing club for (members of) the general public who want to learn how to perform Wayang Orang and our promotion efforts have been very poor,” he said.

Slameto said he had a brother teaching dance in Germany. “I hope (Indonesians) will appreciate our traditional culture more. Otherwise we’ll be learning our traditional arts from foreigners,” he said.

Prodita Sabarini