It is impossible to imagine just how Balekambang ketoprak performers, earning tiny incomes, are able to survive and make ends meet. A ketoprak is a small-time folk theater, performing plays of Javanese folklore and legend. In its heyday, most districts of Central Java would have had its own ketoprak theater company.

Ketoprak shows are usually held once every evening. Balekambang ketoprak artists earn around Rp10,000 for each performance, made up o