SEMIOTIC INTERPRETATION IN JAVANESE WAYANG KULIT PERFORMANCE EQUIPMENTS IN DELI VERSION

This research is aimed at analyzing the meaning and symbols in the equipments used in wayang kulit performance by using the theory from Peirce. The data of this research are taken from the Javanese wayang kulit performance presented by Satrio Piningit Pujakesuma Sumatera Utara. This study is focused in the equipments used in wayang kulit performance and then analyzing the signs in semiotics with the meaning of each equipment. The writer concluded if there are (55%) equipments of icon, (25%) equipments of index, and (20%) equipments of
symbol. In puppets, the dominant data is as much as icon (83%), because puppets are representations of human character, as for symbols (10%) and icons & symbols (7%). The music tools is dominant of index (75%), symbol (25%), and there are no icon found. While the display tools is dominant by symbol (100%),
and there are no icon and index. The dhalang (puppeteer) realized the using of equipments in wayang kulit performance by doing some rituals and used the puppets as the symbols to express about human characters. This research is
related to the academic study of how signs and symbols create meaning. Many symbols employed in the wayang kulit performance is not mentioned directly to the audiences.