How would a dalang create, produce, and perform The Pandawa's Saga Research Paper

How would a dalang create, produce, and perform The Pandawa's Saga from the Mahabharata using wayang kulit puppetry - Research Paper Example It uses Yudistira, Arjuna, Krishna and Bima as the key characters. They play with other characters in opposition. These include Karna and Duryodana. It depicts two families fighting, each desiring to inherit the throne. The Pandora family believes that they have the right as direct descendants. The Korwaa family opposes this idea since they believe they too have. This play uses the puppets to illustrate the fight to the viewers. The play further uses more characters than those counted (Oscar and Hildy, 2003). The Dalang therefore tries out the play to represent the variety of personalities. The study aims at providing ideas to the Dalang, to make the puppets alive and succeed as the new Dalang. Synopsis The story has its background from the ‘Wayang’ and ‘Kulit’. Wayang in the Indonesian Language means ghost or shadow. On the other hand, kulit refers to skin, hide or leather. The play uses puppets designed from the buffalo hide. It is played in darkness or sh adow to signify the mythical culture of the play. The same can be used in the today’s theatre among the dalang to perform traditional plays. The viewers prefer to identify with the theatre because it is familiar to their traditions. The dalang use the Mahabharata episodes to maintain their traditional lives technical skills to engage the viewers to avoid dozing off. The play is about rivalry between two groups (Hodge, 2000). The puppet player must understand the meaning and epitome of wayang kulit before he or she can play it. The player must distinguish it from the usual puppet play. One fundamental reason for this is that the puppets are hidden from the viewers Instead of showing them the puppets, the Dalang (puppet player) plays as a multiple character as an actor designer and a spirit. He uses the spiritual aspect not only to entertain the viewers but also to educate them about good deeds and wickedness. Statement of the Chosen piece The study selects tradition as the asp ect of investigation. As Harrison (1998) suggests, this aspect is appropriate because it focuses on â€Å"the good† and â€Å"the evil† of the society in the performance. This is based on the presence of the light, darkness (shadow) and the spirit. The puppet player must fully understand the behaviors of the puppets present their traits to the viewers. The puppet is brought in from the back of the light to present magical appearance. The distance from the puppet to the screen is regulated to control how crisper the puppets appear to the viewers (Meyerhold, 1991). The puppets that enter through the light are the â€Å"good† while those that enter through the dark side are the â€Å"evil†. The good characters are Arjuna and Bima. Their rivals are the evil characters. Chosen Aspect of the Play The selected aspect of the play is the traditional criteria in the practice of selecting the new Dalang in the traditions. This is shown in the rules of the play where a woman is prohibited from inheriting the seat of the Dalang. Principally, the Dalang has to select the appropriate music that links properly to the show. The Dalang must be strong and skilled to play, conduct the orchestra and control the distance of the puppets to the screen. The tradition dictates that the music must be an original Indonesian Music for it to qualify for the play. The sounds and the rhythm are very different from the Western styles. The Dalang uses his own feet to knock the rattle to signify the start of the play. The