Wayang orang is no more than a Javanese leather puppet show, with human beings playing the characters instead of leather puppets. This, in my opinion, makes wayang orang inferior to the leather puppet show, which is still popular among the Javanese.

But the wayang orang performance last Monday night at the Jakarta Playhouse, Kalimasada Murca (Petruk Dadi Ratu) or Lost Kalimasada (Petruk Becomes a King), was an exception. It went beyond my expectation. Although some of the elements I mentioned above were present, many of them deviated from the traditional leather puppet show.

Perhaps it was because more than half of the 60 actors and dancers in the show were amateurs rather than professionals. Prominent businesspeople joined forces with well-known artists and celebrities to rediscover the beauty of their culture, wishing to help preserve Javanese culture especially the wayang orang.

Noted figures performing in the wayang orang that night included Wiwoho Basuki Tjokrohadiningrat, chairman of oil-service industry Indika Energy, his artist wife Kartini Basuki, painter and anti-smoking activist Tuti Roosdiono, artist Sri Astari Rasjid, noted model Enny Sukamto, and a number of expatriate faces, including Maria C. Regazzoni, wife of Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia Bernardino Regazzoni, and Leslie Dhono Isworo.

Also giving life to that night's performance was the hiring of professional Javanese actors as guest stars such as Marwoto (faultlessly playing Petruk as the central character of the performance) and Ismuri (playing Gareng).

All the other performers came from the Bharata Wayang Orang group that has been performing in Jakarta since the early 1970s in their own dilapidated theater on Jl. Kalilio.

"We want to show the public why it is important to preserve our culture, in this case the wayang orang," said Wiwoho Basuki, who founded the Mitra Bharata (Friends of Bharata) Foundation, with Sudwikatmono, Siti Hediati Hariyadi Seoharto, Arriyani Arifin and Arangga W. Roosdiono.

Petruk Becomes a King is Mitra Bharata's first performance since its establishment earlier year. The wayang orang's plot dabbles in the absurd, with a servant unqualified to be a leader becoming a king. Had the story been part of the original Mahabarata epic in India, it would have been impossible for a person from the lowest caste such as Petruk to become a king.

Tuti Roosdiono, chairperson of the Mitra Bharata Foundation, explained Petruk Becomes a King was chosen for its entertainment value and message about leadership.

Right from the first act, the performance captured the audience's attention with Mustakaweni entering the stage accompanied by an unusual troupe of demon dancers and many larger-than-human-sized gunungan (leather puppet in the shape of a mountain) crabbing along the stage.

With the help of theatrical effects, Mustokoweni metamorphosed into Gatutkaca - the son of Bima - in a matter of seconds, almost like in a magical show, by entering a glass box as one character and stepping out of it as the other. It was then the fake Gatutkaca embarked on his mission.

The performance was divided into seven acts, with dancers performing uninterrupted for three hours. Perhaps a break would have been welcome.

In the first act, the beautiful wives of the five Pandawa brothers, led by Dewi Drupadi, wife of the eldest brother Puntadewa, danced their way onto the stage with their servants. As the dancing stopped, the silliness I don't like most started: the unnecessary exchange of pleasantries among the wives of the Pandawa brothers, irritatingly imitating the voice of a leather puppet master or dalang.

Because the majority of dalang are male, dalang impersonating the voice of a female puppet tend to change their voice into a female one. In wayang orang, this awkward voice is then recreated by real women, resulting in terrible, unnatural voices.

Fortunately, the fake Gatutkaca soon arrived and broke up the unbearable chatter. Gatutkaca told Drupadi that Puntadewa had sent him to pick up the most precious bequest for Pandawa, the Jamus Kalimasada, which Pandawa would use to build the Sapta Arga temple. Drupadi did not realize the subterfuge and handed over the weapon to Mustokoweni thinking it was Gatutkaca.

In the next act, Srikandi, the wife of Arjuna (one of the Pandawas) and also a female warior, stopped the fake Gatutkaca in his track, as he was attempting to smuggle out the Kalimasada.

A fight erupted, with the fake Gatutkaca metamorphosing back into Mustakaweni and running away with the Kalimasada.

In the mean time Priambada - Arjuna and Dewi Widowati's son - eager to meet his father, embarked on a mission to find him, accompanied by his servants, Semar, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong. He met Srikandi on his way, who told him she could arrange for him to meet with Arjuna, provided he rescued the Kalimasada from its thief Mustakaweni.

Another masquerade ensued, with Priyambada impersonating King Bumiloka - Mustakaweni's elder brother - to get the Kalimasada back. Priyambada then entrusted the Kalimasada to one of his servants, Petruk. Mustakaweni was initially furious she had been duped into handing the Kalimasada back, but Priyambada quelled her anger by asking her to become his girlfriend, with Mustakaweni finally agreeing. They both set off to Sapta Arga to meet Arjuna.

Arriving at Sapta Arga, Priyambada and Mustakaweni met all the Pandawa brothers, including his father Arjuna, their wives, as well as guests Sri Kresna, the King of Dwarawati, and his brother Baladewa, the King of Mandura. But when Srikandi asked the couple to hand back the Kalimasada, Priyambada admitted he had entrusted the weapon to Petruk. Forces gathered to find the missing Petruk.

It turns out that Petruk went to the nearby kingdom Lucito Tenggoro to try his luck, using the Kalimasada. Petruk (played by professional actor Marwoto) performed a brilliant solo act with many fresh jokes.

"I'm tired of becoming a servant all my life. Now I want to become king," he said to himself, holding the Kalimasada. "When I become a king, my first program will be to elevate the status of women so that they will not protest polygamy," he paused to the audience's laughter. "No. Even when I'm a king, I will not practice polygamy."

He walked down the stage, with his Kalimasada, cracking jokes while pacing up the central aisle of the theater, past Vice President Boediono, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik.

When in Lucito Tenggoro, Petruk then used the powers of Kalimasada to challenge and defeat King Jayasentika and his soldiers, thus becoming the new king of Lucito Tenggoro, adopting a new name of King Tong Tong Sot Belgedubelbeh.

After serving as a king for some time, Petruk or King Belgedubelbeh launched a war against three neighboring kingdoms, Dwarawati, Mandura and the Pandawa's kingdom, Amarta.

Once again, Petruk and his soldiers easily defeated the soldiers of all three kingdoms, but when he met with Puntadewa - the eldest Pandawa brother - and Sri Kresna, Petruk could not help but hand over the Kalimasada over, and went back to his old ways as a servant.

All in all, the performance was entertaining, with many incredible dances and acrobatic fighting. I loved the dances, and the impromptu jokes from amateur players as well as Marwoto, but not the silly voices of all the characters.

If wayang orang wants to stay true and alive, it must evolve into a more modern form, with more innovative staging and lighting, and most importantly, eliminate all the silly voices and unnecessary dialogues.

Overall, the show a good attempt to preserve the Javanese culture of wayang orang. Mitra Bharata should consider making Petruk Becomes a King a traveling performance to entice more people in other cities in Java help preserve our endangered wayang orang.

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