A Note On Ki Purbo Asmoro’s Repertory

By Kitsie Emerson, January 2009

I have been fortunate enough to see Ki Purbo Asmoro perform over 150 all-night wayang since the first time I saw him perform in June 2004.

The following is a list of the lakon I personally have seen him perform, with the approximate number of times in parentheses if I have seen a lakon more than once. This list is not by any means an exhaustive list of his repertory of lakon, and because I live in Jakarta Sun-Thurs, he sometimes performs on nights when I cannot attend.  (I do usually, however, hear the news of what lakon he performed on a night I wasn’t able to attend, and only remember one or two instances in which it was a lakon I had never seen him perform, as he does in fact most often perform on Fridays, Saturdays, and over public holidays.)

The intention of this list is only to show that in the past four years, Ki Purbo Asmoro has performed (and performed in a dynamic,  inspired and creative way) at least 70 different lakon to my knowledge, and probably more—an impressive working repertory for a dhalang under age 50.

The lakon I have seen him perform most frequently over the past four years are:

• Wisanggèni (a mini banjaran of Wisanggèni’s life from birth through marriage, garapan), 8 times in 4 years
• Wiratha Parwa (he most frequently does a garapan version in which he uses Jagal Abilawa as a prologue), 7 times in 4 years
• Wahyu Tri Manggala (a carangan by Ki Anom Soeroto, adapted by Ki Mujoko Raharjo, alm, usually he does it in “klasik/tradisi” style, but recently he gave a garapan version a try), 7 times in 4 years
• Makutharama (used in a recent documentation project, garapan), 6 times in 4 years
• Babad Wanamarta (he most frequently does a garapan version in which he uses Balé Segala-Gala as a prologue), 5 times in 4 years
• Ciptoning, versi padhat (a lakon he frequently uses overseas), 5 times in 4 years (and twice in all-night version)

For the most frequent lakon performed to have a rate of once or twice a year, also speaks to the breadth of his repertory. It would not be at all uncommon to closely follow a very talented and respeted dhalang for four years and see the same lakon dozens of times in a year.

Here is the complete list of the lakon I personally have seen since June 2004:

BANJARAN:          

Abimanyu

Anoman (x3)

Arjuna (x3)

Baladewa (x2)

Bima (x3)

Bisma

Dasamuka (x3)

Durna (x2)

Gathutkaca (LahiràKrama) (x3)

Karna

Ramabargawa (x4)

Salya

Sangkuni

Sri Kandhi

Wisanggèni (LahiràKrama), (x8)

Lakon Biasa—Garap atau Klasik/Tradisi, semalam suntuk

Babad Wanamarta (x5)

Bima Kopèk (x2)

Bima Suci (x4)

Bratalaras Tundhung (x3)

Brubuh Alengka (starting with Kumbakarna Gugur)

Ciptoning (x2)

Cupu Manik Astagina (x2)

Déwa Amral

Déwa Ruci (x3)

Durna Cinidra

Gandamana Luweng
Gathutkaca Winisuda

Gendrèh Kemasan

Jagal Abilawa

Joyo Anggodo Duto
Kangsa Lena

Kembang Déwa Retna

Kikis Tunggorono

Kresna Gugah

Kresna Pandaya

Kunthi Pilih

Lahiré Bethara Gana
Lairé Semar

Makutharama (x6)
Mèlik Nggendhong Lali (Alap2an Sukèsi), (x2)

Palguna-Palgunadi (x2)

Pandhawa Muksa

Pandhawa Pitu (x3)

Parikesit Winisudha (x2)

Rabiné Abimanyu (2)

Resi Dawala

Sakuntala

Samba Jumeneng Ratu

Semar Mbangun Khayangan (x5)

Semar Mbarang Jantur

Sesaji Raja Suya (x5)

Sri Maha Punggung

Sri Mulih (x2)

Sumantri Ngèngèr (x4)

Sumilaking Pedhut Astina (x4)

Wiratha Parwa (x7)

Wahyu Cakraningrat

Wahyu Dharma

Wahyu Sasana Jati (x2)

Wahyu Tri Manggala (x7)

Wisanggèni Krama

Lakon Padhat

Anoman Obong

Babad Wanamarta (x3)

Ciptoning (x5)

Duryudana Gugur

Gandamana Tundhung

Ranjapan Abimanyu

Salya Bégal

Sesaji Raja Suya

Sumilaking Pedhut Astina