Dåsåmukå: Wayang Kulit with Ki Bagus Baghaskoro
A Javanese wayang kulit (shadow puppet) performance by master story-teller Ki Bagus Baghaskoro, accompanied by the London Gamelan Players.
- When
3rd Dec 2023
- Where
Wheatsheaf Hall
Wheatsheaf Lane (off South Lambeth Road) Vauxhall, Lambeth SW8 2UP.
Join us for an evening of beguiling Javanese bronze percussion music, dramatic battles and romantic tales told through traditional Javanese puppet theatre, Indonesia’s premier artform which was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008.
Food option and concessions: Tickets include a vegetarian Indonesian meal (contains wheat and soya). Soft drinks will be available to buy.
Wheatsheaf Hall, Lambeth. Nearest tube and National Rail: Vauxhall. For directions, visit https://www.wheatsheafhall.org.uk/directions/
Programme
The Background
Tonight's lakon is called Dåsåmukå ('Ten Faces'), an alternative name for Rahwana. It combines two famous stories where Rahwana attempts to steal another man's wife away from his kingdom of Alengka. The stories happen a century apart: in both, Rahwana has recognised the woman as a human incarnation of the fertility goddess Sri Widowati (a Javanese version of the goddess Lakshmi), whom he want for himself. Unfortunately, since all the avatars of Sri Widowati are fated to marry avatars of the martial god Wisnu (Vishnu), Rahwana is never able to succeed in stealing them away.
In the first story, Rahwana gledeg (Rahwana dragged), Rahwana tries to defeat the king of Maespati, Arjuna Sasrabahu ('of the thousand arms'), and take his wife Citrawati. He fails, and is humiliated by being dragged behind a carriage.
The second story, Brubug Alkengka (The Last Battle of Alengka), takes place a hundred years later. Rahwana has successfully stolen away Rama's wife Shinta, but even after ten years she refuses to accept Rahwana's suit, and is rescued by her husband.
In this retelling by Ki Bagus, we see the traditional villain Rahwana in a new light. Although he is a demonic rakshasa quicker to anger than reason, he is also a king concerned for his people and a faather who wants to connect with a lost child.
What if Rahwana’s interest in brining Sri Widowati’s human incarnations to Alengka had a selfless motive? As avatars of the fertility goddess, their presence in Alengka would ensure good harvests and a healthy population. What if Rahwana took Shinta to Shinta to Alengka not as a prospective wife, but as a long-missing daughter?
Since this wayang focuses on the story of Rahwana, classically on the ‘bad’ side of the Ramayana story, we o not see the regular punokawan clown servants, who are associated with the ‘good’ side of the story. Instead Rahwana is attended by the clown servants Togo and Mbilung. In another reversal, the opening scene takes place in the ‘bad’ kingdom.
The action