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BANGSAWAN ‘TERUNG PIPIT’
Taman Budaya, Alor Setar
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13
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Available
Today's Visitor
24
Number of Visitors
473
Introduction and history
Bangsawan originated in India. Initially it was called Wayang Parsi or Mendu where its troupes journeyed through historic routes and regions to finally reach Penang in the 1870s.
In the same vein, the people of Kedah enjoyed the surge of bangsawan shows when Morad Ibrahim, a Kedah artist, began to showcase his troupe, Kumpulan Bangsawan Seri Kedah’s, performance. He produced many quality bangsawan shows staged throughout Malaysia.
The Characters
Amazingly, bangsawan artists do not memorise the scripts strictly as the present modern dramas actors do. Instead, the former remarkably act and internalize the dialogue, speaking naturally and freely without scripts, complying with the director’s plot.
Bangsawan is usually about royals in relation with supernatural and the real world. The popular P. Ramlee’s movie, Jula Juli Bintang Tujuh, is one of the examples of movies about king and queens in the world of supernatural. Hence its characters typically consist of kings and queens, warriors, handsome princes and beautiful princesses, servants, genies and monsters. The hero or heroine, the main characters, are also called Seri Panggung or Orang Muda.
Bangsawan is staged as a heritage at major theaters like Istana Budaya and Auditorium JKKN.
Bangsawan uses costumes designed to characterise. Hence performers wear beautiful and exquisite clothing, such as of the palace courtiers, king and queen wardrobes. These richly coloured or shabbily tattered costumes bring their characters to life.
Equipment and Musical Instruments
Performing the bangswan requires a stage, lighting and a changing cyclorama set to provide effective illusions and backdrop to the stage. While the musical instruments needed are the piano, violin, gong, tabla, drum, drum and accordion.
The performance starts with overture music or a dance. The type of music played relies on the storyline. After the overture, the performance continues with an extra-turn, a lively song, fast dance or fast music to welcome the audience. However, the extra-turn is optional.
If there is no extra-turn, the play welcomes the audience with a poem, the gurindam.
Generally gurindam is to help the audience understand the plot. It mentions the names of kings and queens, the calamities and the questions at the end of the story.
After the gurindam, a short opening song is played, then only the screen is hoisted. As the screen is fully drawn, the overture stops.
The songs are emotional in every scene. For example, before the show closes, a sad scene will be accompanied with a very sad song, sadder than the scene.
Bangsawan has five to seven scenes following the complex landscape of royal custom in the olden days. For instance, if the first scene shows views in the palace, the last scene will be about affairs andevents in the same palace. That is, customarily, the king uttering decrees at the beginning, he will also be announcing proclamations at the end, usually rendered in a more dramatic scene
Reference Source
- Tokoh:
- a) Encik Abdul Jalil bin Husain
- b) Encik Saiful Azwan Abdul Aziz
Location
State JKKN Contact Information
Encik Mohammad Salleh bin Mahmud
Cultural Officer
Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara, Kedah
Kompleks JKKN Kedah
Lot PTD 400, Pumpong
05250 Alor Setar
KEDAH DARUL AMAN
011-10899646
