Heritage Bangsawan and Boria   Ghulam-Sawar Yousof

 

Styles of Traditional Malay Theatre NO MATTER  in which way it is examined, Penang represents an exciting fusion of cultures. And in keeping with its highly diverse population, in Penang may be encountered a wide range of traditional performing arts - those active amongst its principal communities, the Chinese and the Malays, but also to some extent those associated with the most important of its lesser communities -- the South Indians, the Thais, the Eurasians and so on. These performing arts are manifested in a variety of contexts, including secular as well as in ceremonial or ritual situations. Many of these arts forms actually continue to be performed in styles that demonstrate little change from the manner of their performance in their original countries, be it India, China, Thailand, or some other country. It may be interesting to note that, as is the case with languages, the transplanted performing arts are oftentimes prone to retain features of style that may have already been abandoned or modified in equivalent  genres in their parent cultures or  geographical locations. It has been noted, for instance, that the nora chatri or menora dance-theatre, as performed in the rural areas of Kedah and Perlis, is no longer seen in Southern Thailand where, tradition maintains, lie its ancient mythic origins.  It may be worthwhile  noting too  that alongside such tendencies to preserve  "archaic" manifestations of cultural heritage, local attempts at adaptation, dilution of  performance elements  due to the new social contexts, or  other factors may result in shifts  in style.  In the extreme, such a shift may result in the development of "new" genres whose relationships with their parents remain but a distant memory. Southeast Asia presents us with many examples of such evolution of  traditional performing arts genres. To some extent this is the case with the two principal genres of traditional Malay theatre - bangsawan and borea - to be examined in this paper. Bangsawan in particular has, in the wake of its spread from Penang to neighbouring lands such as the Indonesian islands, spawned  exciting new forms of theatre, such as likay and mesres,  that bear little resemblance to the parent, just as bangsawan bears but a slim resemblance to its own parent, the Urdu/Hindustani Parsee theatre. Non-Malay performing arts -- Chinese opera in different dialects and  the  puppet theatre (po tay hee)  as well as Chinese music have been discussed elsewhere by highly competent writers, and any discussion of these  forms lies beyond the range of the present paper. Similarly South Indian dance and Carnatic music lie beyond our immediate purpose, as does menora. In keeping within its proposed theme, then, this paper, then, will deal specifically, with the historical development and performance techniques of  Penang' s  traditional "Malay" theatre genres.  Indicating their origins  and evolution,  to examine the new situations in which these performing arts take place,  as well as to highlight some of the problems connected with their survival. Here the word  "Malay" is placed in quotation marks due to the existence of certain alternative views, as well as the changing status of the genres that are to be examined.

The Historical Setting                                                            Due to the extremely limited information available about Penang and its communities prior to the establishment of the British settlement on the island, there is no concrete evidence of any kind to indicate the situation with regard to the performing arts here. Indeed it is not even known if there was any performing arts activity on the island. Given the fact that it had a relatively small population of essentially Malay fisher-folk, it is very likely that the level of cultural activity, apart from that featured as part of  "cycles of life" events, or the celebration of certain Islamic festivals, was non-existent. While for pre-British Province Wellesley too no clear picture emerges, it can be assumed that, historically, Seberang Perai as that section of Penang came eventually to be known, shared at least some of its traditional performing arts with the rest of Kedah, of which it was a part, as well as with the other states of the Malay peninsula, much as is the situation today. Even for whatever Malay  performing arts existed in the peninsula at that time, very little direct evidence exists, much of it available only in traditional histories or legendary  hikayat literature. Such literature does not necessarily give a total picture, much of its attention being devoted to court life and manners. Once again Penang does not feature in Kedah's Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa.  One has to await  the much later records of Western visitors, scholars,  administrators or enthusiasts such as Walter William Skeat, Hugh Clifford  and Richard Winsted  for any indication regarding Malay  performing arts.  Even then, the bulk of information that begins to emerge from the early years, the earliest from the beginning of the twentieth century, is indirect, sketchy and often highly confused, and once again  Penang  does not receive any mention.  Some of the more popular forms of Malay vocal and instrumental music and dance, including  zapin,  joget, hadrah, and asli music, for instance,  having developed elsewhere, would no doubt have found their way to the island of Penang and certainly to  the more heavily populated mainland at fairly early dates. However, the two major theatre forms with which Penang island was to become associated in subsequent decades - bangsawan,  borea ,- came into existence  in the final decades of the nineteenth century, supposedly in the 1870's. Existing written records mentioning these art forms, however, date only from the early twentieth century.    During more recent times, both bangsawan and boria  have, on the whole, been seldom seen in Seberang Perai, while on to island too they have   remained relatively dormant, seeing revival only during private functions such as weddings, in specially-organized  competitions, usually under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports,  and on special occasions such as the annual end-of-the-year Pesta Pula Pinang or the YTL Festival,  a low key arts-fest which occurs annually around  the middle of the year.     As far as the Malay-based traditional theatre genres in Penang go, the focus must necessarily be upon  bangsawan, borea, both of which are  historically connected with Penang island from their very beginnings. Others such as Hadrah, like menora, represent  a southward extension from Kedah into Penang. Menora,  a culturally  Thai-Buddhist art form, active in Kedah, Perlis and Kelantan.  With the incorporation of certain Chinese features into it, menora as performed in Penang, has in fact evolved its own identity.

Bangsawan The true history of bangsawan begins in India, with the development there of the type of musical theatre or "opera"  that  bangsawan represents. The move to develop this style of operatic theatre was first made in the north Indian province  of Awadh, anglicized as Oudh. Here, in the middle of the nineteenth century, the last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah (reigned  from 1847-1856), an enthusiastic patron of the arts,  inspired by the theatre of the European Renaissance, and more particularly by developments in the French theatre, encouraged  the creation of grand-scale performances incorporating mythical plays, music, dance, spectacle, and highly elaborate staging techniques reminiscent of the kinds of performances that took place in the court of Louis XIV. An important name that emerges from these early years of this, yet unnamed genre of musical theatre, is that of Amanat, the writer who gave this form of theatre its most important early play Indra Sabha, written in Urdu in 1853, and set in Indra's heaven. Appearing in many imitations of Amanat's work, as well as in several north Indian languages,  this play became a perennial favourite, representing those qualities which seemed best to typify the new genre of spectacular musical theatre. Indra Sabha eventually found its way into bangsawan.  Also associated  with  the grand theatre of  Wajid Ali Shah is another fantasy piece entitled Sabz Pari wa Gulfam (The Green Fairy and Gulfam), set once again in a mythic setting, this time with a Persian-Muslim background.   These two plays in a fashion, set the tone for the evolution of the court theatre in Awadh, and, to some extent, following appropriate adaptations, of several genres in South as well as Southeast Asia, beginning with bangsawan.  In the Southeast Asian  region, and more particularly in Indonesia and Thailand,  bangsawan played an important role as a major intermediary art form, the forerunner of many a sub-genre. Highly significant too, is the fact that  bangsawan and its related genres, in following the footsteps of the Parsee theatre, initiated a process of transformation, a process that in India saw a shift from court to popular theatre. In Malaysia, through bangsawan, a new strand was added-that of  what is known as "popular" urban theatre. Unlike what happened in India, there was no direct shift from palace to popular stage, although for some time at least  bangsawan had  court longings and pretensions to being a "royal" kind of art form, due both  to its name as well as to occasional support or patronage bestowed upon troupes visiting Kalimantan, as is apparent from the names adopted by  some of its troupes, particularly  the Royal Zanzibar Company of Singapore. However,  this notion of being "court" theatre was but a sort of false self-glorification, the essence of what creates classical or court theatre being altogether absent from bangsawan. In terms of theatre history, the coming into being of a popular urban strain of theatre  is highly significant, given the fact that prior to that point in time there was in the region no truly modern theatre style. Parsee theatre took that initiative in India, and bangsawan stretched this new phenomenon of transition towards the true modern drama and theatre to Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.   The extensive repertoire of the Parsee theatre  eventually came to include materials from a large variety of sources including myth, legend, romance  and history.  Plays were specially written for the genre  by a galaxy of writers in Urdu, Hindi, and Gujerati. The names of Ranchodhbhai , author of the highly famous Raja Harischandra (staged in 1874-75),  Raunaq, Zarif, Talib, Ahsan, Betab, Hash, Abdullah, Beg, Mahshar and others have been immortalized by their works. Works  by  established  European playwrights including  Shakespeare, appropriately adapted or mutilated  and localized, came to be included in the genre's expanding repertoire. Many of these Indian and European plays found their way into bangsawan, at times in highly peculiar fashion as demonstrated by the case of Hamlet. As far as playscripts  go, the major difference between the two genres is that  while Parsee theatre had complete scripts specially written for it,  such a tradition did not develop in bangsawan, which relied entirely upon the use of  brief scenarios upon which actors freely improvised. Eventually  a  fairly large  selection of scenarios; developed  from a variety of Eastern sources - Malay, Middle Eastern, North Indian, Javanese, Thai, Chinese and Western. These  were  added to the already extensive repertoire bangsawan inherited  from the Parsee theatre. The changing repertoire and other elements which developed in this genre, resulted in a transformation of the genre in interesting ways.

Collapse of Oudh The collapse of the nawabdom in Oudh, and the banishment of Wajid Ali Shah  himself in 1856,  resulted in his performers becoming itinerant.  Eventually they gained  the financial support  of Bombay's wealthy Parsee community. Performances, now organized on a commercial basis, took place in the city's first permanent theatres. The yet-to-be-named genre, following suitable adaptations for staging indoors, came to be known as Parsee Theatre due to the support given to it by the Parsee community. With a base in Bombay, the genre spread to other regions of Central and South India. Many theatre companies, including possibly the first and certainly the best known, Parsee Natak Mandali,  were created specifically  for the purpose of staging Parsee theatre. Eventually, with its spread outside the sub-continent, it spawned similar styles of operatic theatre in Sri Lanka and in Southeast Asia. Although tentative steps had already been  taken elsewhere, such as in  Bengal, as a result of imitation of Western writers, by playwrights like  Rabindranath Tagore and  Michael Madhusudan Dutt (who believed that he was a reincarnation of Shakespeare),  towards the development of  drama designed to break  away  from indigenous folk and classical traditions,  in the true sense of the word, the development of the Parsee theatre represents the first step towards  the development of  modern Indian drama, and also towards the tradition of commercial theatre.  Interestingly, the history of bangsawan, and some of the other regional genres it spawned, parallels the development of the Urdu/Hindustani Parsee theatre, a genre which quickly established its popularity, filling a vacuum that obviously existed  in the urban environment. The parallels are indeed striking and they go even further.  Like Parsee theatre, bangsawan, also commercial theatre in every sense of the word, brought about the introduction of  permanent playhouses, painted backdrops, wings and borders,  salaried actors and actresses, professional directors, musicians and designers, and ticket-buying  audiences -- the whole infrastructure necessary for such a theatre style to function effectively. Much of this was in itself lost with the decline in  popularity of bangsawan following the rise, first  of serious naturalistic drama and urban theatre, and then the rise of the cinema, to which many of the leading personalities  of both these genres, Parsee theatre and bangsawan,  were attracted. Like Parsee theatre, bangsawan too, now seemingly representing a world that has been lost, or which appears too fantastical to be taken seriously, sees occasional revivals, perhaps to satisfy the need for nostalgia, having in fact no really serious role in the modern societies respectively of India or Malaysia. Yet, despite the highly strong similarities between the two genres, and many shared features,  there is one major difference, in that Parsee theatre had almost from the beginning, been based upon scripts written, in some instances,  by well-known Indian writers -- Scripts such as Indra Sabha, Raja Harischandra, and Gul Bakawali, for instance. These three plays and others too eventually found their way into  bangsawan, but performances were based upon sketchy  and highly fluid scenarios.. Bangsawan never made use of completely  written scripts, and even the writers of the simple scenarios upon which performances are based  to this day remain anonymous. Through the Parsee theatre tradition, works of established  writers, Indian as well as European including Shakespeare found their way into bangsawan, and still constitute a  part of its repertoire. They are used in a manner which will, no doubt shock their original writers.

Parsee Theatre Bangsawan developed in Penang in the 1870's following a visit by one or more troupes of Parsee Theatre performers, possibly from Bombay.  Such companies are recorded as having visited Burma and Singapore as well as several cities in Europe.  There is no available record of the actual number of visiting troupes that  Penang received.  Further research on the Parsee Theatre companies  in India and their activities may yet throw some light on this problem. It is generally assumed that only one troupe came.  The inspiration and influence which led to the eventual development of bangsawan came directly from the Parsee Theatre, which, as has already been pointed out, itself had been shaped as a result of inspiration and influences from European antecedents, including, possibly  Commedia dell' arte. Visiting Parsee theatre companies came to Penang with the intention of entertaining the northern Indian (sepoy) regiments based on he island, most of whose members were Punjabis and Pathans, as well as  the local Indian Muslim communities. Parsee theatre performances, however, seem to have taken Penang, and Singapore  (and later on Indonesia as well) by storm, receiving support from Indians, Malays, the Jawi Pekan or peranakan  communities, as well as  the Chinese and even Westerners. The reason for this is fairly  clear. Apart from the folk performances of wayang kulit, and possibly  nora chatri,  no urban theatre style of any kind existed in Penang with the possible exception of  Chinese opera. The conditions were ripe for the development of popular urban theatre. The  impact of the highly glamorous Parsee theatre performers and performances  was considerable, and the settings as well as the highly spectacular effects of the genre were something altogether new. Similar effects were felt amongst the residents of Edo when Okuni first started what eventually became kabuki, or amongst Filipino communities in the 1870's  when zarzuela, a distant cousin to both the Parsee theatre and bangsawan,  first found its way from Madrid  to Manila. "Hindustani" influence has in fact from the earliest days of Penang been one of the major forces shaping popular Malaysian life. Beyond bangsawan  this influence continued through Malay imitations of Hindustani films, and continues, unabated, these days. The effect of the recent film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham  is a case in point.  This film had many predecessors.  It is generally assumed that the visiting Parsee theatre troupe or troupes ran into financial difficulties, as a result of which they had to sell their before embarking for India. This may or may not be a factor in their decision. It is possible too, for instance, that the visiting artistes and their managers unloaded their possessions  for the sake of a  convenient return to India. At any rate  items of their paraphernalia, essentially painted backdrops, costumes and musical instruments,  were purchased  by one Mamak Pushi, an Indian-Muslim businessman in Penang, about whom, unfortunately not enough is known.  Mamak Pushi continued the Parsee theatre tradition, replacing the north  Indian performers with whatever local talent could be mustered, and making necessary changes to the performance style.  This transitional genre that developed between Parsee Theatre and what eventually became full-fledged bangsawan, saw a combination of  Malay and Indian elements. It has come to be known as  Imitation Parsee Theatre (wayang Parsee tiruan). Information regarding its  specific performance features is totally lacking.  What is evident  is that while the Hindustani/Urdu language was retained for the songs, the dialogue was presented in the Malay language. Other aspects of the genre, including the repertoire or stories remained unchanged. It was essentially a brilliant and opportune decision to continue performances of Parsee theatre without its original artistes. The situation certainly demanded  quick decisions and creativity to boot, and both of these, coupled with the opportunity to earn good money from a style of performance that  had become quickly  popular, was availed by Mamak Pushi. Further localization and adaptation eventually led to the development of bangsawan as a distinct genre. It is not known when the term bangsawan began to be used for this offspring  of the Parsee theatre. Nor are the reasons for its use clear. It is generally believed to have been coined from two words-- bangsa, meaning race and wan meaning noble.  The term bangsawan, in this sense, connotates nobility. It remains unclear why the genre came to be named  bangsawan, for it was neither performed by nobility, as is the case in certain other genres of Southeast Asian court theatre styles, nor did it receive any kind of continuing  royal patronage. Neither did likay, inspired by bangsawan and similar forms elsewhere in Southeast  Asian become court theatre traditions. In every instance such examples indicate a transition from folk and classical traditions towards the modern theatre.  The important decision taken by  Mamak Pushee thus had far-reaching consequences for Malaysian theatre, for in a way with the loss of bangsawan's , following the Second World War, came about the development of sandiwara and this in turn prepared the way for  modern drama and theatre in the Malay language.

Eclectic Bangsawan developed, in Penang's multiracial society with the support, artistic and entrepreneurial, of the various communities in Penang and eventually in Malaysia and Indonesia, into a highly significant and eclectic theatre genre. As a multi-faceted theatre style, requiring the incorporation in a single performance, of a wide range of artistic forms, representing the very spectrum of  literature, popular  music, acting, martial arts, dance elements as well as elements of the visual arts, it  not only brought together these elements  from diverse traditions  coming from Asia and Europe--elements which at that point in time were yet to find a foothold in Malaysia, but it  also, additionally,   brought about an exciting fusion of the cultures of the  communities that had already begun to call  Penang home. Thus Parsee theatre was reshaped into a new genre that took into account the cultural background and intrinsic features of the various communities, achieving a rare fusion. If this was  the case on the cultural level, then its is also the case on the commercial level, for bangsawan found  a racially-mixed audience, an audience which received the new genre  with enthusiasm.   It has already been noted elsewhere that although bangsawan in the decades, in particular, following the Second World War,  came to be presented, possibly for "nationalistic" reasons,   as "Malay"  theatre, it was in fact neither the product of  any one race nor the possession of any one community. There were performers from Penang's many races (as was the case, incidentally, also with the Parsee theatre) as there were mixed audiences and there were entrepreneurs from different communities, coming together  to actively  promote and sustain this vibrant new genre of theatre. This was very true during the early days of bangsawan in Penang's racially-mixed society, and later in Singapore as well. The large number of bangsawan troupes that were set up and managed by the peranakan and Chinese communities is a strong indicator of this eclecticism. Recent bangsawan revivals in Penang such of those that took place at Universitib Sains Malaysis and the more recent performance of the Chinese play  Sam Pek Eng Tai  which took place in June 2000, are an indicator of what  early bangsawan might have been like in terms of it racial composition.  They are also an indicator of what might be possible a possible direction  in any attempt, at least in Penang, to revive this genre as an historically and culturally significant manifestation of Penang's cultural heritage. Whether or not  bangsawan revivals are artistically desirable, given that bangsawan itself has become in many ways outmoded, what kind of  manner and style should revivals should take, and whether or not they are going to succeed given that  bangsawan itself as a genre has become outmoded and has been superceded by other genres, such as the modern drama and theatre-these are questions that we may have to be pondered perhaps at some other forum.

Borea Even though in some ways  boria is a highly peculiar art form, its relevance to Penang cannot be overstressed.  There have been various explanations, mostly etymological, as to  its origins specifically in Penang.  What is significant is that boria, ultimately derived from performances of  tragic, passion plays, known as taziya  done by Shia Muslim communities in Iran  and Northern India,  to commemorate the martyrdom, in particular of Hussain, the second son of Ali, Islam's  fourth caliph, at the Battle of  Kerbala in Iraq in the year 680 of the Christian era, but also to lament the fate of both Ali and his first son Hassan, as well as other members of their family, a family that to this day is highly venerated amongst Shia communities the world over.   Although all three - Ali and his two sons - were murdered,  the tragedy that befell Hussein is by far the more cruel,  in the manner in which the events unfolded. Hussein was literally slaughtered  on the Battlefield of Kerbala.  The commemoration of these events surrounding the family of Ali, reached Penang with the small Shia community in the sepoy regiments during  its  early decades. Two possible dates have been mentioned for the possible  introduction of boria to Penang - 1843 and 1874.   An important feature in the observance of  Muharram, is the staging of   tazia created around the  personalities of the caliph Ali, and his sons. These plays are  often gory in the manner of their presentation and staging, so as to arouse violent emotions,  are taken from a fairly large repertoire that has developed over the centuries. Performances take place   during the first ten days of Muharram. Additional activities during this period of mourning, include processions, lamentations and well as self-flagellations. In the processions,  model tombs (tabut) are carried,  to be buried or deposited in the sea upon the conclusion of the activities.  The impact of taziya performances and the processions reached Penang and at least one location, Padang Periaman in Sumatra, where tabut are still carried as part of a festival which has nothing whatsoever to do with the tragedy of Kerbala.  Boria activities in the early stage in Penang consisted of  costume parades with strolling minstrels, often dressed in sack cloth to indicate mourning,  visiting the houses of the wealthy, singing songs connected with the martyrs of Kerbala, in imitation of the processions already alluded to.  This processional activity, done during the day time, came to be known by the name kuli kallin, a term variously interpreted.  Kuli kallin performers wore masks or painted their faces. While early lyrics of their songs consisted of religious texts, at some later point secular songs in praise of wealthy patrons and merchants seem to have been incorporated, eventually becoming the norm, as a result of the diminishing Shia influence in Penang.  The second phase of performances in the Penang boria consisted of the presentation of straight plays on the evening. It is not known if, at any time during the early days of boria, any religious plays in the manner of the Shia taziya were featured. The noteworthy thing here is that with the evolution of the genre, and the removal of the Shia influence as a result both of their diminishing numbers of Shia and the greater participation of Sunni Muslims, including  Malays as well as  Jawi Peranakan,  the genre certainly became transformed from a religious passion drama into secular presentations sans processions. In its later development two features became significant-- the presentation of comic skits, and more importantly the presentation of laudatory songs.   With the further evolution of the boria in Penang, the presentation of laudatory songs, supposedly presented ex tempore, by a lead singer (tukang karang) and a band of male, female, or mixed-sex chorus singers (sailors, so named because they occasionally dress as sailors) became the genre's dominant feature. Today this is all that one associates the boria with.  Thus what began as a Muslim ritualistic activity, performed annually during the first month of the Islamic calendar to commemorate and originally to mourn Ali and his family became a non theatrical, sing-song musical presentation, containing lyrics that are laudatory in character. The transformation had indeed been  phenomenal and nowhere are there any signs in today's performances of what boria might have been like in its early days. Like bangsawan, the transformation of a Middle Eastern or North Indian  genre of ritual theatre into  boria, a uniquely Penang-Malay art form,  as we know it today has been dramatic, indeed much more dramatic than in the case of the transformation of Parsee theatre into bangsawan.  Nothing of  boria's original character remains.  Today while the sing song aspects of boria are presented mainly by Malays, the comic  occasionally revived, see the participation of Penang's various communities, Indian Muslim Malay and Babas.  Like bangsawan, boria has become rare, seeing occasional revival. Indeed both genres, possibly outmoded in character and no longer relevant to Penang's  modernizing society,  are threatened with extinction.  The loss of these genres may mean the extinction of the two most important genres of performing arts which originated and developed in this very island. But the question still remains to be answered: Is revival possible, and what purpose would such a revival have. These are the important questions before us, in the case both of bangsawan and boria As we discuss these problems, steps are already underway to bring about a revival of several genres of Penang's Malay performing arts including  both these genres, as symbols of Malay cultural heritage.  How far they will go and what will be achieved by these efforts remains to be seen. # The Evolution of Traditional Malay Theatre in Penang A paper read at the Penang Story conference by Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof Professor of Theatre Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Email: gsyousof@hotmail.com BIBLIOGRAPHY Camoens, Cantius Leo (1981), `History and Development of Malay      Theatre", M.A.Dissertation, University of Malaya. _____(1982) "The Wayang Parsi, Tiruan Wayang Parsi, Komodi Melayu       and the Bangsawan, 1987-1895", Malaya in History, 25: 1-20. Edrus, A.H. (1960), Persuratan Melayu: Drama dan Perkembangan       Bahasa Melayu. Singapore: Qalam Press. Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof (1992), Panggung Semar: Aspects of Traditional       Malay Theatre. Kuala Lumpur: Tempo Publishing.  ____(1994), Dictionary of Traditional South-East Asian Theatre. Kuala      Lumpur: Oxford University Press. Mohd Taib Osman (1974), ed. Traditional Drama and Music of Southeast      Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Rahmah Bujang (1975), Sejarah Perkembangan Drama Bangsawan di      Tanah Melayu dan Singapura.  Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Tan Sooi Beng (1993) Bangsawan:A Social and Stylistic History of     Popular Malay Opera.Singapore: Oxford University Press.

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