Mendu Traditional Theater as a Treasure of the Local Wisdom of West Kalimantan

摘要

West Kalimantan has a lot of hidden local wisdom, one of which is the traditional Mendu theater. Mendu's strength lies in his dialogues as a medium for delivering messages that are always accompanied by moral advice and education. The storyline brings evil and kindness, with a good story that is always the winner at the end of the story. Therefore, the preservation of Mendu's traditional theater is very important because it is a storage identity and archive with contains values that are good for social life. The purpose of this research is to describe Mendu's traditional theater as a communication medium for local West Kalimantan so that people know culture that almost extinct this area. This research includes qualitative research with descriptive methods. The technique is used by library research (documentary study). Based on the results of the study it was found that Mendu had a communication function, among others, as an educational tool, disclosure of aesthetic feelings, and public entertainment media.