Butet's mimicry keeps Melburnians entertained<\/p>\n
By Dewi Anggraeni<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE (JP): If not for the fact that we were definitely in
\nMelba Hall at the University of Melbourne, it would have been
\neasy to be lulled into thinking we were somewhere in an
\nIndonesian city, enjoying the hard-hitting, dangerously honest
\nyet screamingly funny performance of Butet and his Teater
\nGandrik.<\/p>\n
Evenly scattered among the mainly dark-haired, full house
\naudience were a number of fair to honey-colored-haired
\nindividuals. And these non-Indonesians in the audience did not
\nall flock together, because they did not need to. They were
\nfluent Indonesian speakers and they enjoyed the theater with
\ntheir Indonesian friends.<\/p>\n
It was Teater Gandrik's last night in Melbourne before they
\ncontinued their tour to Brisbane last week. Temporarily hosted by
\nthe Indonesian Art Society and Indonesia Forum, they were
\nperforming Raja Rimba (King of the Jungle), where Jujuk, Djaduk,
\nAgus and Heru accompanied Butet's monolog.<\/p>\n
Butet's extraordinary skills in taking off people's voices
\nwere the underlying strength of the performance. He was telling a
\nfamiliar story, so the audience's demand on him was enormous: he
\nhad to live up to their expectations.<\/p>\n
The rapport between Butet, his chorus-cum-accompanists and the
\naudience was almost palpable. Each time he introduced an animal
\ncharacter, he had to deliver not only with gestures that blended
\nharmoniously with the chorus and music, but also with his
\ninimicable impersonating voice. Needless to say, when he assumed
\nthe voice of \"he-who-allegedly-has-handed-over-power\" when
\ndepicting the old tiger, the ripple of mirth in the audience left
\nno doubt that the depiction met people's expectations. When Butet
\n-- dubbed in Indonesia as the \"king of monologue\" -- introduced
\nthe infuriatingly cute baby tiger and put on the voice of
\n\"he-who-was-placed-on-the-throne\", some people nearly fell off
\ntheir seats laughing.<\/p>\n
Throughout the entire monologue, there were voices in the
\naudience naming and guessing who the current animal character was
\nmeant to be. There were also scenes where Butet, as well as his
\nchorus, portrayed numerous ducks who followed the old tiger's
\nword blindly, seemingly too scared to engage their own power of
\nevaluation, or too comfortable in their absence of any sense of
\nresponsibility. Here a definable discomfort was felt; I dare say
\nfew would have a clean conscience. A collective sense of guilt
\nseemed to flit across many a seated figure in Melba Hall. Luckily
\nthis was quickly brushed away by waves of laughter.<\/p>\n
The play did not only draw laughter and stir a degree of mea
\nculpa among its audience, but managed to sneak in a sinister
\nwarning as well. The laughter subsided significantly when the old
\ntiger, instead of retiring into a mountain cave to live out its
\nold age, became the custodian of the animal world.<\/p>\n
The interplay between Butet and the rest of the group was
\nsmooth and flawless. They came across as compact and naturally
\neasy with each other, as if they were born together and no
\npractice was remotely necessary, let alone ever considered.<\/p>\n
At the end of the play, the audience, still mesmerized, was
\ngiven the opportunity to ask questions. It became obvious that
\nsome people retained their critical minds even when they were
\nentertained. Butet was taken to task for his father's closeness
\nto the authorities of the previous New Order government. He
\nexplained that he and his father did not always agree on the way
\nhe responded to social and political issues. To a barbed question
\nwhether he felt he took advantage of the general misery in the
\ncountry, Butet's answer was diplomatic and somewhat humble.<\/p>\n
He also modestly denied that he had mastered the art of voice
\nimpersonation fully. When technically analyzed, his \"you-know-
\nwho\" voices did not match those of the real people. However, he
\nsaid, \"somehow they match your memory of their voices.\"<\/p>\n
Earlier performances at Monash University's Alexandra Theater
\nwere a great deal more theatrical and less infused with politics.
\nTheir season in Melbourne was indeed an initiative of the Office
\nof Performing and Visual Arts at Monash University. Brigade
\nMaling (The Thieves' Brigade) used up the whole group of nine,
\nincluding the only two female actors, Ruliana and Saptaria. The
\nstory, set in a fictional kingdom where the populace had to
\nsurrender their hearts to the state, showed the incredible
\ntalents of the group, individually and collectively.<\/p>\n
The story moved in and out of the shadow puppet screen,
\nemphasizing the spectacular array of colors when it moved out on
\nto the stage. This continuous display and withdrawal of colors
\nwhen the characters filled out into real people then shrank back
\ninto puppets had a headily haunting and surreal effect. Brigade
\nMaling was much more moving with its pathos than the heavily
\npolitical Raja Rimba.<\/p>\n
Like in Raja Rimba, the group fed into each other, interacted
\nwith one another like a dream. They even moved seamlessly from an
\nacting role into a musician role and vice versa, and most of them
\nplayed more than one acting part. The group have had to cut down
\non their size while touring, but their versatility made up for
\nthe smaller number.<\/p>\n
Brigade Maling drew the audience physically on to the stage
\nafter the play, and all moved to congratulate them.<\/p>\n
The group has successfully entertained not only the Indonesian
\ncommunity, but Indonesianists also. Bravo.<\/p>",
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