Javanese Performances on an Indonesian Stage: Celebrating Culture, Embracing Change
During the period of turmoil that gripped late twentieth-century
Indonesia, theater troupes in Central Java staged stories of the
past that feature a familiar cast of rulers, nobles, clown
servants, and ordinary people. However, these performances did more
than simply pass on age-old cultural "traditions." By
stretching the framework of Javanese theater convention, they aired
opposition cultural and political perspectives, and expressed a
dynamic response to social change. As political pressures
intensified in 1997-1998, actors staged witty, critical
performances to enthusiastic, oppositionist crowds, but the
dismantling of repressive state control after the fall of Suharto
diminished interest in indirect, political critiques from the
stage, and economic weakness caused patronage and sponsorship to
dry up. By 2003-2004 a revival of sorts was underway as performers
engaged with the politics of regional autonomy and democratization,
and actors responded to the devastating 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake
by staging rudimentary shows in the worst-affected areas to help
sustain community spirit. Barbara Hatley's account of these
tumultuous years shows how performers and audiences adapted,
resisted, incorporated, and survived in the face of political
upheaval and regime change, capitalist transformation,
globalization, and economic crisis.
