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.
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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.
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