Shaping the Javanese Play : improvisation of the script in theatre performance

Bosnak, J.E. (2006)

Doctoral Thesis

This book focuses on several Javanese theatre companies and more specifically on the way these groups shape and use their play texts. By looking at the different stages and dimensions of Javanese theatre productions various manifestations of the script and ‘script-like phenomena’ are encountered. All these phenomena play an important role in the production process as a whole. They are mnemonic and structuring devices employed by the participants of the production process. In case studies is explained how the playwright-director creates these tools and how he and the actors apply them. Furthermore, it is shown how ‘shaping agents’ such as the playwright-director, his assistant, the guest star and the companion of the guest star are at work during the performance. These agents influence the way the actors apply the mnemonic and structuring devices that form part of the production process. The interaction between shaping agents is characterised by multiple (humorous) misunderstandings. These misunderstandings eventually lead to collisions and call for multiple creative solutions in response. As a result the Javanese staging process has a lively, spontaneous and creative character.

• Ethnology of performance
• Improvisation
• Indonesia
• Java
• Play text
• Playwright
• Theatre production process
• Theatre tradition

• All authors: Bosnak, J.E.
• Supervisor: Arps, B.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2006-12-19
• Court: LEI Universiteit Leiden
• Sponsorship: NWO, CNWS, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Gajah Mada University (UGM)