STRUKTUR SASTRA PADA CERITA WAYANGPURWA: ALTERNATIF PENGEMBANGANNYA

Lately there hasbeenwidespread anxiety in various circles concerning decreasing appreciation from the audience at wayang purwa (traditional Javanese leather puppet play) performances. In anticipation of that, many dalangs (puppet masters) often make innovations by collaborating with such other arts as comedy acts and campur sari singing. Dalangs in Yogyakarta, however, generally oppose such innovations. In their case, what needs to be done is to work on the literary structure, among others, more intensively. In various wayang performances what often happens is the use of a monotonous performing style, including that in delivering various literary elements.However, there are some cases of wayang stories of interest to be discussed as examples of those having potentials for further development such as the story of the death of Samba,Arimba, or Salya and that ofDewi Sawitri's loyalty to her beloved. Such stories develop somewhat differently from many others. Another shortcoming of the usual wayang purwa performance is that the story elements are allowed to remain distant nom elements in the audience's life. It hinders a process of intensive appreciation.The solution is to find a storythat allows a comparison between a wayang story and realities in people's life, especially in developing the structure of characterization, plot, and setting related to atmosphere