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 * The masks you have seen from Bali fall into two categories, those that are employed for the Topeng and those used for ritual and religious performances in which a Rangda and a Barong Ket mask are used. Besides having an entertainment value for those who watch the characters they depict in action, they also serve a practical purpose to the Balinese. Discuss some of the masks and the characters they depict and the way they are employed to serve ritual and religious purposes in Balinese society. **

Western conceptualizations of theatre center on entertainment rather than religious significance. Contrastingly, Balinese theatre emphasizes the function of performance over its form. The key purpose of these mask traditions is not to amuse the audience, but to fulfill a ritual role in society.

Although the storylines and comic elements of Topeng seems to indicate a performance art centered on entertainment, all other aspects are secondary to its religious function. The most important part of any Topeng play is when the morally ambiguous Sidha Karya mask, the most recognizable and prized of the Topeng masks, is brought out to perform a ritual. This character combines good and evil, belonging exclusively to neither force, but rather symbolizing their coexistence. The audience may ignore the rest of the play, and entire sections may be removed, as long as Sidha Karya and the ritual remain intact (Farley Richmond Class Lecture).

The Barong performances center on the balance of good and evil even more so than the Topeng. The tradition features two primary masks: Rangda and the Barong Ket, neither of which are entirely good or evil, and neither of which are entirely victorious. The Barang is a protector, guarding the village and sniffing out evil, but he is, at heart, a lion and comes with all the dangers associated. Rangda represents control over local forces of evil, symbolized by the witch maidens. It is therefore necessary to perform this ritual when evil goes out of balance. The Barong and Rangda masks are powerful objects for the Balinese, imbued with both the power to cause madness and debility in the entranced men and the power to, not vanquish evil, but regain control over it (The Mask of Rangda Film).

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