Ramayana. Indonesian Wayang Show

Article number 10219023

Sunardjo Haditjaroko’s Ramayana: Indonesian Wayang Show presents and explains the Ramayana epic as it is performed within the Javanese wayang tradition, focusing on how the classical narrative is adapted into Indonesian shadow puppet theatre rather than treated solely as a literary text; it describes the structure and function of a wayang performance, the central role of the dalang (puppet master and narrator), and the characteristic stylistic and narrative conventions that shape the telling of episodes involving figures such as Rama, Sita, Hanuman, and Ravana within this cultural performance context. The book situates the Ramayana within Indonesian performing arts practice, emphasizing its role as a living theatrical tradition in which storytelling, music, puppetry, and moral or philosophical reflection are integrated, and it serves as an accessible introduction to how a major South Asian epic has been localized and reinterpreted in Java through wayang theatre techniques and performance conventions.