File puptcrit/puptcrit.0802, message 770


Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:13:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Richardson <zenchops59-AT-yahoo.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Risks/The Malaysian Situation


        My take on much of this discussion about risk, legitimate versus illegitimate theatre, broadway, etc., is that it is more than a little slanted towards western culture, in ways that are obvious and ways that are discreet. Western theatre is a wonderful thing but it is by no means the total definition of what passes for theatre in the rest of the world. As a wayang artist, my perspective is not based on compatibility with broadway musicals ( though I'd love to see it.. ) or even the concern for subtle movement that is the purview of other, more articulated puppetry formats. So when I ponder the notion of risk taking in my puppetry medium, I think first of the dangerous habit of spreading political or social commentary in the dialogue of a dalang.
   
        Consider the situation in modern day Malaysia. Here you have a country that has been performing puppet theatre longer than people have been seeing Shakespeare., as its primary theatrical expression. Several years ago, the current government in Malaysia outlawed the performance of so-called traditional wayang performances, on the grounds that these stories were" un-Islamic and based on fantasy."
  ( promoting instead a "new " wayang that is supposed to teach cleanliness, studying hard, and other values deemed acceptable. ) The point to consider is that Malaysia has been Muslim for hundreds of years, completely co-existing with the same wayang plays now considered  illegal to perform.
   
       Apparently then there are some significant forces in the high levels of that country's government that take the power of " a puppet show " very seriously.Even modern Indonesia, renown for arguably the highest level of artistic achievement in shadow puppetry, continues to exert censorship on what dalangs can or cannot say. Dalangs must get permits from their local government officials to be able to perform at a given event. If that puppet player crosses the line in his performance, chances are he will have difficulty obtaining future permits.The irony is, that at least some portion of the audience is hoping to hear the very same things that would get that dalang in trouble. 
   
         We American puppeteers could do worse than having the government actually fear what we are saying in our work !
   
  Michael  Richardson

       
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