The sponsors may be fulfilling a vow, or the performance may be part of their responsibility to their family or community.
Plays provide moral and social instruction along with entertainment.
The audience is said to be protected from evil while a play lasts. Life is fleeting and changeable, not controlled by mortals or even the gods, but manipulated by some cosmic puppet master. Other arts reflect the puppets. Contemporary events are frequently interpreted in terms of the plays. Former president Suharto was often referred to as a puppet master.