History of Bangsawan

By Nathaniel Muhammad

 

Since bangsawan found ground in Malaysia in the late 1880’s, a theater pursuit began which later became very popular and monopolized theatrical activities in Malaysia for more than 70 years. Bangsawan was set in motion in the Malaysian state of Pulau Pinang, which then expanded throughout the whole of Malaysia and even to Indonesia. Bangsawan went through modifications when it was introduced in Indonesia.

Bangsawan did not originate in Malaysia; instead bangsawan was born from the demise of an itinerant theater from India. During the 1870’s, Pulau Pinang received influences from the staging of an itinerant theater company named Parsi Theater (Wayang Parsi) or Mendu. This company staged many tales using the Hindi language and was performed by actors and actresses who were brought in from India. The repertoires of the tales were on the subjects of love and adventure of this group and the gods.

Moreover, the people of Pulau Pinang, throughout the years, comprehended the language from the Indian region because the British colonialists brought with them as many Indian nationals as possible to work and become the island’s inhabitants when they occupied Pulau Pinang. In view of the fact that there were more male than female Indians, many of the male immigrants married local women and eventually fostered a community of Indian/Malay which were once known as Jawi Pekan. Later, Parsi Theater was secured by the local master among the Jawi Pekan community named Mohamed Pusi in 1884.

Interestingly, the equipment used for the stage shows were improved and were salvaged, with a new ensemble of actors replacing the old. The new masters harbored the interest of promoting and marketing bangsawan so the performance was named Bangsawan Theater (Wayang Bangsawan). The first bangsawan group was called Pusi Indera Bangsawan of Penang. This group began to become active in 1885 with the company of actors using the Malay language. This group journeyed on to the rest of Malaysia and to Sumatera.

Subsequently, Bangsawan Theater was traded to an entrepreneur in Sumatera named Jaafar Turk. Meanwhile, bangsawan as a stage performance was no longer monopolized by its initiator Mohamed Pusi. Several other groups were put together by other entrepreneurs who saw that this form of theater had commercial potential that could be profitable. The growth of bangsawan was incessantly happening in the hands of the entrepreneurs. In line with the influences of secular education from the west and the effect of westernization, the name bangsawan was revolutionized into opera.

Each state in Malaysia has a center whose aim is to stage bangsawan. In Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, the group of Sungai Wang Plaza was once a venue for staged bangsawan and it was known as Happy World. There have been numerous groups that have been actively involved since the inception of the first group. The various groups that have been committed and dynamic are Nahar Bangsawan, Malayan Opera, Kinta Opera, Indera Bangsawan of Penang, City Opera, Peninsula Opera, Dean Opinion Opera, Rose Opera, Seri Pertama Opera, Jaya Opera, Zanzibar Bangsawan, Rose Opera, Gray Noran Opera, Indera Permata of Selangor, Constantinople Opera, Rahman Opera, Kencana Wati Opera, Bangsawan Jenaka Melayu and Bolera Opera.

As a popular stage performance, bangsawan activities were finally affected by the birth of film arts. In the beginning, film arts proffered lucrative incomes than did bangsawan, casts of all star bangsawan actors were picked as film actors. This brought about the decline of bangsawan activities as actors of bangsawan had been won over by the film arts and at the same time contributed to the growth of the film arts. The popularity of the bangsawan actors and actresses helped to attract audiences to Malay films. Other factors included the war, rise in the standard of living and the rocketed amount of funds needed to mobilize bangsawan contributed to the freeze of this art form. At the present time, there are only two bangsawan groups that still continue to keep alive this art form.

I was honored to have attended a performance last evening entitled, Megat Bulang Kuala at Panggung Bandaraya DBKL at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was an excellent performance. To be amongst individuals who have an appreciation for this art form was exciting. I must admit that I did not understand everything that was being said, due to my lack of fluency of the Malay language. However, the acting, the music, the singing and dance, not to forget the performance of Silat, the Malaysian martial art, were superbly executed. I congratulate and applaud all those who were involved in sharing this wonderful art of bangsawan.