THE
BALINESE OPERA: THE ARJA
A
performance by a good ardja ensemble is a social event
in the village. It is at ardja shows that young people
meet and love affairs are started, helped by the romantic
atmosphere of the love stories and the late hours. The
performance never begins before midnight, and the villagers
wait patiently, gossiping, flirting, listening to music,
or munching peanuts until the actors have eaten their
interminable dinner and are finally dressed.
 The
play begins with the appearance of the tjondong, the
female attendant of the putri, the eternal princess.
The part of the tjondong is usually played by a middle-aged,
homely, male actor dressed as a girl, who walks in an
effeminate way, singing praises to his mistress and
begging her to come out. She is finally persuaded; the
curtains of the little booth at the end of the dancing-space
part and the much heralded beauty appears. In progressive
ardjas she may be a young girl dressed in gold, with
a great flower bead-dress; but generally beautiful young
girls cannot -sing very well and in " good "
ardjas the part is played by a male actor famous for
his high falsetto. Slowly the two work their way across
the stage, dancing and posturing, the servant occasionally
kneeling before the princess, all the while singing
and talking in high, wailing voices. After this, they
go d9 off-stage " simply by sitting on a mat in
front of the orchestra.
Deep
hollow laughter is heard from behind the curtain, followed
by a song announcing the patih, the prime minister of
the great prince, the hero of the play. The patih draws
back the curtain and after what seems like unsuccessful
attempts to come out, be finally emerges, very impressive
and sure of his importance. He struts and grins, singing
his own praises, laughing pompously. His abused and
browbeaten younger brother Kertalah comes out meekly
after him. He is a pitiful little figure dressed in
an old football sweater and what look like the old clothes
of the patih. Instead of a gold kris, he carries a stick
or some sort of agricultural implement. His face is
crossed with dabs of white paint over his nose and upper
lip to indicate that be is a clown. They hold long dialogues,
giving hints of the story to follow. The patih in his
hollow, pretentious manner postures and struts like
a turkey; Kertalah lisps or stutters. They joke about
topical and local matters, much in the style of circus
clowns, with the patih playing " straight "
and acting as foil for the clown. They are the favourites
of the crowd and every time an " off-colour "
joke is made, it is the women and children who laugh
the loudest, while the men blush.
 Finally
it is time for the prince, the ratu', to appear; the
patih recites his praises and with clasped hands begs
him to enter. He describes the prince's beauty as contrasted
with his own ugliness, and flatters him, in standard
phrases such as: ". I am so happy to be the patih
of such a prince, ha, ha, ha! Come out, Excellency,
the road is clear, please come out, I wait for my master
The
prince appears, glittering with gold and tinsel, singing
in kawi, dancing in the refined style. The patih and
Kertalah follow every one of his gestures in awe, trying
to imitate them, but succeeding only in a burlesque.
By now it is about three in the morning and time for
the story to begin. The ardja stories are romantic episodes
of memorable love affairs of princes and princesses,
generally full of fantastic situations and with a distinct
erotic flavour. The distinguished characters speak and
sing in kawi, which is translated into common Balinese
by the comedians for the benefit of the unscholarly
crowd.
The
comedy is incredibly funny and rough slapstick, sprinkled
with all sorts of bawdy jokes. Besides the traditional
stories, there are popular new plays such as Sampik
and Tuan Wei, adaptations of Chinese love stories that
started in 1924 as bastard performances with actors
in European clothes playing on mandolins. Eventually
these stories became thoroughly Balinese and were incorporated
in the ardja.
|
INDONESIA
