| Lenong | |
|---|---|
 A modern lenong performance | |
| Types | Traditional theatre |
| Ancestor arts | Betawi people |
| Originating culture | Indonesia |
| Lenong |
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| Burma |
| Cambodia |
| Indonesia |
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| Laos |
| Malaysia |
| Philippines |
| Thailand |
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| Vietnam |
Lenong is a traditional theatrical form of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Lenong is a form of theatre traditional to the Betawi people of Jakarta, Indonesia. Dialogue is generally in the Betawi dialect. Actions and dialogue are often presented in a humorous manner on top of a stage known as a pentas tapal kuda, so named for the way actors enter the stage from the left and right. Audiences sit in front of the stage. [1] The number of performers is determined by the needs of the story. Male performers are referred to as panjak, while female performers are known as ronggeng . [1]
A performance is generally opened with a prayer, known as ungkup, and a ritual offering. The performers are then introduced. Gambang kromong is one of the musical genres which may accompany a performance. Musicians may use various instruments, including flutes, gongs, accordions, or drums. The songs are traditionally quite formulaic, and several songs are common in performances, including "Cente Manis" and "Jali-Jali". Chinese musical influences can be seen. [1]
Performances can be classified under many genres, although most are about heroes or criminals; tales adapted from folklore, such as from the One Thousand and One Nights , are also common. In broad strokes there are two main subdivisions of lenong, namely lenong denes and lenong preman. Stories in lenong denes focus on the exploits of the nobility, the rich, and the powerful. Lenong preman stories are always about commoners or folk heroes. The type of performance will affect the costumes worn. [1] Stories are not memorised from a script. Rather, performers will memorise an orally-presented outline and follow that, with improvisation as necessary. [2]
Lenong developed from the earlier form Gambang Rancag. In its earlier years, beginning around the turn of the twentieth century, it was promoted by ethnic Chinese. This has left fairly extensive Chinese influences in the genre. [1]
Lenong performances from the 1920s and 1930s often focused on the exploits of bandits, including Si Pitung [3] and Si Tjonat. [4] These bandits, though portrayed as despicable people by Dutch and ethnic Chinese writers, became more Robin Hood-like in lenong; Si Pitung, for instance, became a humble person, a good Muslim, a hero of Betawi people, and an upholder of justice. [3]
During the 1950s, Sudiro, the governor of Jakarta, restricted performances of traditional theatre such as lenong. Meanwhile, the booming domestic film industry meant that lenong performances could not compete on the market. [5] Troupes had to go from kampung to kampung, offering performances for money which, ultimately, was not always enough to survive on. [6] By the early 1960s lenong was nearly extinct. [5]
During the 1970s, Governor Ali Sadikin gave greater freedom to traditional culture. [5] In this atmosphere, cultural critic and film director D. Djajakusuma worked to promote and preserve lenong, with regular performances at Taman Ismail Marzuki; as a result, S. M. Ardan considers him as having saved the genre. [7] Many lenong actors, including Benyamin Sueb, Mandra, and Enung Tile bin Bayan, began making films in the 1970s. [8]
Lenong has been televised before. In the early 1990s, Harry de Fretes combined lenong and sitcoms to create Lenong Rumpi (literally Gossip Lenong), which was broadcast on RCTI from 1991 to 1992. Unlike stage performances, performers on this televised lenong were mostly not native Betawi speakers. [9]
Betawi people or Batavians, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the city of Jakarta and its immediate outskirts, as such often described as the native inhabitants of the city. They are the descendants of the people who inhabited Batavia from the 17th century onwards.
Kroncong is the name of a ukulele-like instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong. A kroncong orchestra or ensemble traditionally consists of a flute, a violin, at least one, but usually a pair of kroncongs, a cello in Pizzicato style, string bass in pizzicato style, and a vocalist. Kroncong originated as an adaptation of a Portuguese musical tradition, brought by sailors to Indonesian port cities in the 16th century. By the late 19th century, kroncong reached popular music status throughout the Indonesian archipelago.
Kemayoran is a district of Central Jakarta, Jakarta in Indonesia. It was best known for the former Kemayoran Airport and it has been transforming as a new central business district. As of 2023, it consists of numerous four and five-star hotels, restaurants, premium office towers, hospitals as well as shopping and entertainment centers. Kemayoran is also home to the Jakarta Fair, the largest and longest fair in Southeast Asia that attracts more than 4 million visitors annually.
Jagakarsa is the southernmost district in the administrative city of South Jakarta, Indonesia. Jagakarsa is bounded by Ciliwung River to the east, Krukut River to the west, and Margasatwa-Sagu-Joe-T.B.Simatupang-Poltangan Road to the north, while the boundary marches with Depok city to the south.
Cilincing is a historic neighborhood of the coast of Jakarta, Indonesia. It is sandwiched between the Port of Tanjung Priok to the west and River Titram to the east. Cilincing has been for some decades one of the districts of North Jakarta which in turn encompasses as far as Marunda and some non-coastal hinterland.
Setu Babakan Betawi Cultural Village or Setu Babakan is a cultural park of Betawi people, which is located at Srengseng Sawah, Jagakarsa, Jakarta in Indonesia. The village is about 5 kilometers southeast of Ragunan Zoo at the center of the Betawi Cultural Village, a site considered as part of the cultural heritage of Jakarta, which is devoted to the preservation of the indigenous Betawi culture. The location of the Betawi Cultural Village is replacement of the previous Condet (Betawi) Cultural Village which is eroded by the time.
Si Pitung was a 19th-century bandit in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. His exploits have since become legendary, with numerous accounts of his life, deeds, and death.
Djadoeg Djajakusuma was an Indonesian film director and promoter of traditional art forms. Born to a nobleman and his wife in Temanggung, Central Java, Djajakusuma became interested in the arts at a young age, choosing to pursue a career in theatre. During the Japanese occupation from 1943 to 1945 he was a translator and actor, and in the four-year national revolution which followed he worked for the military's educational division, several news agencies, and in drama.
Si Ronda is a 1930 silent film from the Dutch East Indies which was directed by Lie Tek Swie and starred Bachtiar Effendi. Based on contemporary Betawi oral tradition, it follows the exploits of a bandit, skilled in silat, known as Si Ronda. In the lenong stories from which the film was derived, Ronda was often depicted as a Robin Hood type of figure. The production, now thought lost, was one of a series of martial arts films released between 1929 and 1931. Si Ronda received little coverage in the media upon its release. A second adaptation of the tale, Si Ronda Macan Betawi, was made in 1978.
Gambang kromong is a traditional orchestra of Betawi people which is a blend of gamelan, Western music and Chinese-style pentatonic base tones. Gambang kromong is closely associated with the Chinese Betawi community, especially the Chinese Peranakan. It was popular in the 1930s.
Si Tjonat is a likely lost 1929 bandit film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Nelson Wong and produced by Wong and Jo Eng Sek. Based on the novel by F.D.J. Pangemanann, the silent film followed an indigenous man who, having killed his fellow villager, flees to Batavia and becomes a bandit. After kidnapping an ethnic Chinese woman, he is defeated and brought to justice.
Tjěrita Si Tjonat, Sato Kěpala Pěnjamoen di Djaman Dahoeloe Kala is a 1900 novel written by the journalist F. D. J. Pangemanann. One of numerous bandit stories from the contemporary Indies, it follows the rise and fall of Tjonat, from his first murder at the age of thirteen until his execution some twenty-five years later. The novel's style, according to Malaysian scholar Abdul Wahab Ali, is indicative of a transitional period between orality and written literature. Tjerita Si Tjonat has been adapted to the stage multiple times, and in 1929 a film version was made.
Frederick D. J. Pangemanann was a journalist and novelist from the Dutch East Indies.
The Luar Batang Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Jakarta, Indonesia, located in the area of Pasar Ikan in North Jakarta on the west side of the Sunda Kelapa Harbor. The mosque was built in the 18th century and named after Luar Batang, in accordance with the nickname of a sacred guardian of Islam, Habib Luar Batang, where his shrine is also located.
Betawi cuisine is rich, diverse and eclectic, in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European traders, visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city of Batavia since centuries ago.
Aminah Tjendrakasih was an Indonesian actress best known for her appearance as Lela in the television series Si Doel Anak Sekolahan. Beginning her career in her teenage years, Cendrakasih had her first starring role in 1955's Ibu dan Putri. She soared to popularity after taking a role in Serampang 12 along with Nun Zairina in 1956. Cendrakasih acted in more than a hundred feature films; in 2012 and 2013 she received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Bandung Film Festival and the Indonesian Movie Awards.
Abdul Hamid Arief was an Indonesian actor who appeared in more than 120 films. Born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, he started his acting career in theatre before migrating to film with 1948's Anggrek Bulan. His first starring role, and the one from which he first gained recognition, was as the title character in Pangeran Hamid. Over subsequent decades he was a productive film actor, often appearing in four or five films a year. He also acted in various television series.
Kemang is a neighborhood in southern part of Jakarta, Indonesia. The area is located mostly in Bangka subdistrict of Mampang Prapatan and partly within Pejaten subdistrict of Pasar Minggu. The main area of Kemang is marked by the roads of Kemang Raya, Prapanca, and Bangka Streets.
Tanjidor is a traditional Betawi musical ensemble developed in Jakarta, Indonesia. This musical ensemble took the form of a modest orchestra and was developed in the 19th century, pioneered by Augustijn Michiels better known as Major Jantje in the Citrap or Citeureup area on the outskirt of Batavia.
Indonesian theatre is a type of art in the form of drama performances that are staged on a stage, with a distinct Indonesian nuance or background. In general, theatre is an art that emphasizes the performing arts that are displayed in front of a large crowd. In other words, theater is a form of visualisation of a drama that is staged on the stage and watched by the audience. Indonesian theatre includes the performing arts of traditional theater and modern theatre located in the territory of Indonesia. Some examples of Indonesian theater are Arja, Wayang, Wayang wong, Lenong, Ludruk, Janger, Randai and others. Theatre in Indonesia can also be referred to as regional or ethnic theatre, because it originates and develops from 1,300 ethnic cultures in Indonesia.
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