Simon Soon
A contemporary Boria performance is defined by a strict formal grammar that regulates a two-act performance. Performances generally begins with a comedy sketch takes the everyman’s encounter with modernity as a fodder for laughter, this typically resolves in a gaiety dance. A boria troupe consists of 15-20 performers. The leader stands out in his/her attire, and is known as the Tukang Karang, while the rest of the band members are called 'sailors'. Today the Boria is presented on the proscenium stage, and gets by as a quirky Penang gaiety show with annual school competitions as well as state festivals/functions.
When the Boria first emerged around 1870s onwards, the format was more akin to street theatre. Described as ‘a troupe of strolling minstrels, generally dressed and drilled as soldiers and headed by a Captain and an Army Chaplain’, this roving company would spare no expense at dressing up and miming stock characters that references a multiethnic cast of people that one might find in a colonial port city of Penang. The size of a troupe, ranged between 20-40 youths who often belonged to the same neighbourhood. The boys would seek out a tukang karang, who was engaged to lead the troupe in chorus and performance.
Troupes were made up of musicians and players. The latter further subdivides into star turns and the chorus. Depending on the chosen theme for the particular year, musical instruments and costumes were modified and players were also outfitted with suitable props.
On the first ten days of Islamic new year, Boria troupes would visit, ‘the houses of wealthy or popular Moslems [sic] and serenades them till paid to go away. The songs are sometimes eulogistic and sometimes comic; the tunes are admirably suited for their purpose.’
NOTES
H.T. Haughton, ‘Boriah’, Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. 30 (JULY, 1897), pp. 312-313.
A.W. Hamilton, ‘The Boria’, Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. 82 (SEPTEMBER, 1920), pp. 139-144.
R.J. Wilkinson, ‘Malay Amusements’, Papers on Malay Subjects; Part 3, Kuala Lumpur: Government Press, 1910.
