Kethoprak: Javanese Folk Theatre of Yogyakarta and Solo
What kethoprak theatre is
Kethoprak theatre is a Javanese folk drama that combines music, song, comedy and action on a simple stage. It took shape in the Surakarta region, or Solo, in the early twentieth century and then spread across Central Java, and in Yogyakarta it became a loved form of entertainment among ordinary townspeople and villagers. A performance is a long evening of theatre, with a large cast, a live gamelan ensemble and a story drawn from the history and legends of Java.
What makes kethoprak distinctive is its looseness. Compared with the highly stylised wayang wong dance drama, kethoprak leaves much more room for improvisation, jokes and everyday speech. The actors know the story and the key scenes, but the words on the night respond to the audience and to one another. This gives every performance its own shape, and it means that a single story can play out quite differently from one evening to the next.
Where kethoprak comes from
The art form is closely associated with Solo, the city also known as Surakarta, where the court traditions of the Javanese royal houses shaped much of the performing arts. Kethoprak took its place among the folk forms that grew up beside the court, performed for a wider public in villages and neighbourhoods rather than inside palace walls.
Its roots lie in the countryside. Kethoprak grew out of lesung music, the rhythmic beating of a wooden rice-pounding trough, played by village women. That early form is still remembered as kethoprak lesung. Around the first decade of the twentieth century the beat was joined by singing and a simple story, and the performance reached the stage in Surakarta. Later the lesung gave way to a full gamelan, and the gamelan-accompanied style is known as kethoprak Mataram. The form developed over generations rather than being invented at a single moment.
The stories and the three historical cycles
Kethoprak plays are built on the history and legend of Java, with some invented stories added. Unlike wayang and wayang wong, the plays do not draw on the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics. They look instead to Javanese chronicles and popular tales, and they explore questions of power, loyalty, justice and the responsibilities of a king.
Stories set in the world of the old Javanese kingdoms are a favourite, and the kingdom of Mataram, whose heirs include the courts of Surakarta and Yogyakarta, supplies many characters and situations. An audience member who knows the chronicles will recognise the figures and the situations, while a newcomer can follow the story through the actions, the music and the comedy.
Many plays borrow freely from history and mix it with invention, so a performance should be enjoyed as drama and not as a lesson in dates.
The music and the gamelan ensemble
Kethoprak is accompanied by a gamelan ensemble, a group of metallophones, gongs and drums that sets the mood for each scene. The music signals changes in the drama and marks the passing from one scene to the next. The actors also sing to the gamelan, and the songs carry some of the emotional weight of the story.
The ensemble is not simply background. The musicians follow the actors and change the pace with the drama, so the music and the story are constantly responding to one another. For a visitor, listening to the gamelan is one of the best ways to follow the rhythm of a long performance.
The comic scenes and the clowns
Comedy is central to kethoprak. Alongside the serious royal scenes, the performance includes comic interludes in the everyday language of the audience. These scenes are also improvised, and they often play on local life and the foibles of the town. The comedy is one of the ways that the form stays close to its audience.
The comic characters also stand for the commoner in the story. They speak plainly and bring the drama back down to earth after a moment of high tension. A kethoprak performance without its comic scenes would lose much of its character.
Kethoprak in Yogyakarta
Kethoprak reached Yogyakarta in the 1920s, and troupes multiplied there in that decade. Yogyakarta became closely tied to the gamelan-accompanied style that is known as kethoprak Mataram, and the form stayed close to the concerns of ordinary people in the city and the surrounding kampung communities.
Stories about the rulers and history of the region are a frequent theme, so a kethoprak audience in Yogyakarta is often watching its own history being told on a simple stage.
Troupes perform in the neighbourhoods and at community events. A visitor who wants to see kethoprak in its everyday setting is better served by looking for a local performance than by expecting a formal theatre production. Travelling troupes have long worked in the open, carrying their own gamelan from village to village.
Modern forms and changing audiences
Kethoprak has changed with the times. Some productions are set in modern settings and show contemporary life instead of the royal court, while keeping the improvised style and the comic scenes. Comedy-led versions have also reached a national audience through television.
Troupes today work with smaller crowds than in the past, and the best performances keep the old craft alive by combining it with fresh material. A visitor who sees a modern version should not dismiss it, because the same lively relationship with the audience is at the heart of both old and new kethoprak.
What to expect at a performance
A kethoprak performance is long. The stage is simple, with a backdrop and a few props, and the costumes are colourful and suggest the court dress of the period of the story. The audience sits in front of the stage, and people may come and go, talking quietly as the performance continues. Ask locally about the date and place of a performance before you go, since shows depend on the troupe and the occasion.
Arrive early to find a good place, and expect a lively atmosphere. Audience members often respond aloud to the jokes and to the drama, and the performers feed off that response. Clapping, laughter and calls from the audience are part of the form, not a disruption of it.
Watching respectfully and understanding the language
Much of the humour in kethoprak depends on the Javanese language, including its levels of politeness and its dialect forms. Visitors who speak Indonesian will follow the broad outline of the story, but many of the jokes will need a local listener to explain. Asking a companion to translate the comic scenes adds a great deal to the enjoyment.
Photography is common, but flash can distract the actors and disturb the mood. Keep to the edges of the audience area, avoid walking across the stage and show courtesy to the performers, who work long hours.
Frequently asked questions
Is kethoprak the same as wayang?
No. Wayang is the shadow puppet theatre, performed with puppets and a single puppeteer. Kethoprak uses live actors on a stage and relies on improvisation, humour and audience response.
Do the actors use a script?
The form leaves wide room for improvisation, so the dialogue changes from one performance to the next. That is why each performance is different.
Is kethoprak only performed in Yogyakarta?
No. It is performed in several parts of Central Java and East Java as well as in Yogyakarta, and it began in the Surakarta region.
Can a visitor understand a performance without speaking Javanese?
Yes, in part. The action, the music and the staging carry much of the story, but the comedy and some of the subtle points depend on the language.
Other traditional performances to see in the region
Kethoprak belongs to a wider world of Javanese performance. The royal court tradition behind many of its characters and situations is explored in Javanese court culture. The shadow puppet theatre, which also tells long stories with music, is the subject of wayang kulit, and the instruments that carry both the puppet play and the folk theatre are described in Javanese gamelan. For the city where much of the Yogyakarta tradition is performed, Yogyakarta city makes a natural base for planning an evening of theatre around a day of sightseeing.
Anyone who travels north-east to Solo will find the region where the form took shape, and a different regional taste in performance. The wider Yogyakarta region rewards the same curiosity with its temples, palaces and performing arts, and watching kethoprak is one of the most direct ways to hear how Javanese people laugh at their own history.
Related guides: gender barung, Who the Yogyakarta Punakawan are, Jathilan: The Javanese Horse Dance of Yogyakarta and Central Java.