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This is our group presentation video. :)

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This is the final compilation of our group's slides presentation.

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Wayang Kulit Kelate   Jin Sejuta Alam Kena Bunuh

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origin and historical development of ritual theatre

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origin and historical development of ritual theatre

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This ancient theatre form created by Malaysia’s Malay communities combines acting, vocal and instrumental music, gestures and elaborate costumes. Specific to the villages of Kelantan in northwest Malaysia, where the tradition originated, Mak Yong is performed mainly as entertainment or for ritual purposes related to healing practices.

Experts believe that Mak Yong appeared well before the Islamization of the country. It was performed as a royal theatre under the direct patronage of the Kelantan Sultanate until the 1920s. Hence, the tradition was perpetuated in a rural context without forsaking the numerous refinements acquired at court, such as sophisticated costume design. A typical Mak Yong performance opens with an offering followed by dances, acting and music as well as improvised monologues and dialogues.

A single story can be presented over several consecutive nights in a series of three-hour performances. In the traditional village setting, the performances are held on a temporary open stage built of wood and palm leaves. The audience sits on three sides of the stage, the fourth side being reserved for the orchestra consisting of a three-stringed spiked fiddle (rebab), a pair of doubleheaded barrel drums (gendang) and hanging knobbed gongs (tetawak).

Most roles are performed by women, and the stories are based on ancient Malay folk tales peopled with royal characters, divinities and clowns. Mak Yong is also associated with rituals in which shamans attempt to heal through song, trance-dance and spirit possession.

Mak Yong, which requires long years of training, has been preserved until the present largely through oral transmission. In today’s society, few young people are willing to commit to such rigorous apprenticeships. As a result, this important tradition is undergoing steady decline, as attested by reduced dramatic and musical repertories and a shortage of seasoned performers.

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Ritual theatre quite simply is the enactment of a myth or archetypal story with the intention of bringing about healing– usually to resolve an issue, to deal with a difficult life experience, to restore depleted energies or to ease a transition.

Anyone can participate in a ritual theatre and it requires no particular ability or talent other than an open heart and a willingness to allow the journey unfold. The kind of ritual theatre that I am mostly talking about occurs behind closed doors of a workshop room or a private space where participants are also witnesses and onlookers of the ritual drama.

sources: https://ritualtheatre.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/what-is-ritual-theatre/

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What is Ritual Theater?

Ritual theater is intentionally different from what we may call "traditional" theater. According to ritual theater creatrix, Batya Podos*, ritual performances storylines tend to be cyclical rather than linear. Catharsis is the central experience (for audience and performers), the methods tend to be psycho-spiritual with the spiritual played in and through the performers rather than directed up toward a transcendent god, and the audience members are participants rather than passive spectators. Ritual theater may include repetition, chanting and/or singing, movement/dance, and acknowledgment of the Divine Feminine.

For me, in addition, ritual theater exists in the tension between the sacred and the profane; it is the magical lifeblood that flows outward from the liminal realm. This is precisely the moment the audience-the public-the viewer, becomes an active part of the unique ritual performance experience, rather than a passive observer. Finally, the central experience of my ritual theater creations is that of the Goddess.

*Summarized from Batya Podos' essay, "Feeding the Feminist Psyche Through Ritual Theater" in the anthology, "The Politics of Women's Spirituality," edited by Charlene Spretnek.

Journey to the Goddess

An experiential theatre event

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Ritual theater is intentionally different from what we may call "traditional" theater. According to ritual theater creatrix, Batya Podos*, ritual performances storylines tend to be cyclical rather than linear. Catharsis is the central experience (for audience and performers), the methods tend to be psycho-spiritual with the spiritual played in and through the performers rather than directed up toward a transcendent god, and the audience members are participants rather than passive spectators.