ABSTRACT
Topeng is not only a ritual form of Balinese theatre but can be a site for the production of political discourses. In this chapter, anthropologist Hildred Geertz does a close reading of a Topeng performance stayed at the height of the Indonesian Revolutionary movement. The performance ended with the vicious beating of young political dissidents by the audience. Geertz evaluates the performance as a spectacle in Balinese representations and interpretations of politics, hegemony, authority, narrative and sacrality occurring at a pivotal moment in Indonesia's history.
