The oral Panji story rendered by the Javanese mask puppet show

This study focuses on the rendition of the oral Panji Story, registered in Unesco ’s Memory of The Word Register in 2017, by the Javanese MaskPuppet Show. We demonstrate that in telling the story, the performer does not use a prepared script. The story is "fluid”, with several variations and Innovations based on the performer ’s Interpretation. Its composition depends on both the mntext of the performance and its length. In Javanese culture, the creativitty of the performer (dalang) extends only to the way he renders the story, whereas its title and the order of events are a “public property”. The nyantrik method is a mode whereby the tradition is passed down from one generation to another. The method not merely ensures the transfer of the performer ’s knowledge and experience to other people, but maintains the connection with the Almighty. We analyze the specificity of rendering an oral story in traditional performing art.