TSMS_Assignment1

Assignment 1: Ritual and Performance Theresa Stratmann

1. The lecture in class today involved the making of holy water by a dalang puppeteer. Yet comedy may be introduced by the puppets during the most serious of events. Describe how comedy seems to be communicated by the clown servants in the two videos.

Today in class we learned about the wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre and its role in the making of holy water. These puppet shows are a mix of entertainment and ritual, portraying life cycle stories. Although part of their purpose is to give moral instruction, in two video clips we saw the use of clown servants to introduce comedy into this generally more serious performance. We cannot understand what the puppets are saying and we are not told which ones are the clown servants, although usually they are the fat puppets with obnoxious round noses. Yet through the audience’s laughter we are clued into the comic nature of the characters. In this manner we can begin to see that it is not just their dialog that is comic.

The clown servants convey comedy not just through words but also through their movement, appearance, and nature of speech. They are very erratic – turning around frequently, shaking, spinning, dipping to the ground, which conveys their goofy nature. They are not serious enough to stand still - that would take restraint. Physically, they look comic because their nose takes on an exaggerated shape, their body is pudgy, and they have tufts of hair that stick up on top of their head. Comedy is also found in their form of speech. They respond very quickly to the person they are talking with which indicates that they are probably making snide retorts. They carefully emphasize words or spit them out at the other character, after which the audience usually laughs, so they must be using this manner of speaking to deliver their punch lines. The clown servants also have a less dignified and deep voice than the less comic characters. It is therefore through erratic movement, a goofy physical appearance, and a distinct way of speaking, that the clown servants manage to convey comedy even to those of us who cannot understand what their words mean.

2. Why do you think the puppeteer elects to use such tactics during these serious events?

The Balinese wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre tells life cycle stories. They provide moral instruction and have ritual purposes, yet they also entertain. In the video we saw of a show the performance is a coming of age story for four boys who are becoming men and a girl who is becoming a woman and changing her name. These are events of great importance in the Balinese culture and the performance is meant to give the children instructions. Yet there are comic scenes built in throughout the performance. These young people are just becoming adults. The puppeteer therefore could be using comedy to keep their attention. He wants to convey his moral messages and he has a better chance of holding their attention if he brings in humor once in a while.

This kind of comic relief is very common in tragedies and serious plays. Shakespeare, for example, is a master at it. He must entertain a diverse audience that includes the lower class, which is more interested in jokes and fights than serious or thought-provoking conversation. Comic relief holds the interest of the lower class and so the playwright gets his audience to listen to the deeper moral and philosophical aspects of his play. This is exactly the role that the clown servants play in the kulit shadow puppet theatre, they keep a young or less sophisticated audiences’ attention as the puppeteer attempts to convey a deeper, more serious message.