Comedian Bondan makes money from mockery<\/p>\n
By Tarko Sudiarno<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): No performing arts director has been as
\nshrewd as Bondan Nusantara in cashing in on public scorn for the
\ncountry's leaders amid the terrible economic crisis.<\/p>\n
The 46-year-old director of Dagelan Mataram Baru -- the New
\nMataram Comedy Group -- has seen both his own and the group's
\npopularity soar thanks to his skill at making fun of the
\ncountry's political leaders, lampooning them as nothing more than
\nclowns on a grand stage.<\/p>\n
Performances of his latest comedy play Celeng Degleng (Mad
\nSwine), shown in Jakarta on Sept. 24 and in Yogyakarta on Oct. 2
\nand Oct. 3, were a huge success.<\/p>\n
The play tells of the corrupt system allegedly created by New
\nOrder leader Soeharto and the chaos he left behind after he
\ntumbled from his throne last year. Among the cast of characters
\nare President B.J. Habibie, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Abdurrahman
\n\"Gus Dur\" Wahid, Amien Rais and Gen. Wiranto, all cleverly
\nrenamed. The actors brilliantly mimic the politicians' speech
\npatterns and behavior.<\/p>\n
The group follows the principles of conventional Dagelan
\nMataram (Mataram Comedy) and the Javanese folk opera ketoprak.
\nEvery play has a specific storyline based on historical events.<\/p>\n
Unlike ketoprak, Dagelan Mataram innovates by adopting the
\nmodern theater concept. In addition to the standard Javanese
\ngamelan orchestra, drums, cymbals and guitars are used. The stage
\nhas a more modern setting, including lighting.<\/p>\n
\"All the innovations aim at making the show more pleasing to
\nthe eyes and ears,\" said Bondan, who founded Dagelan Mataram Baru
\nin 1997.<\/p>\n
Bondan said he was inspired by the highly popular ketoprak
\nplesetan, a satirical form of the art which deviates from the
\npakem standard source book for subject matter. Names of the
\ncharacters are changed to suit current political and social
\nrealities. Ketoprak plesetan was once popular in Yogyakarta and a
\nnumber of other Javanese cities.<\/p>\n
Bondan's bold move to experiment with ketoprak plesetan and a
\nmore modern form of Mataram comedy has won him criticism and
\nadoration from arts lovers and observers.<\/p>\n
Critics accuse him of playing with ketoprak's standards for
\ncheap sensationalism.<\/p>\n
He insisted the criticism was unfounded and contended that
\nDagelan Mataram Baru was an innovative way of ensuring the
\nsurvival of the traditional art through gaining popularity among
\nthe younger generation.<\/p>\n
Popularity of his group, he said, would ensure the survival of
\nthe traditional art form.<\/p>\n
\"I strongly believe that many of our audience members are
\ninterested in finding out more about the traditional ketoprak.\"<\/p>\n
It seems his aim is becoming reality. Between 1,500 and 2,000
\npeople show up at every performance of Dagelan Mataram Baru. A
\nrecent survey found that more than 70 percent of the audience
\nmembers were students; the rest were business people, civil
\nservants and employees of private companies.<\/p>\n
The survey was made for Celeng Dhegleng, which he adapted from
\nBayang-bayang Ratu Adil (Shadow of a Just King), a book written
\nby Catholic priest and Kompas daily journalist Sindhunata.<\/p>\n
The title of the anthology published by PT Gramedia is taken
\nfrom one of Sindhunata's reviews of painter Djoko Pekik's work
\nIndonesia 1998 Berburu Celeng (Indonesia 1998 Hunting for
\nSwine), which sold for almost Rp 1 billion (US$125,000) last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Bondan initially prepared Celeng Dhegleng for a performance at
\nMonash University, Australia, this December. But the university
\nunilaterally canceled the show after relations between Indonesia
\nand Australia soured over the East Timor chaos.<\/p>\n
Bondan had the guts to criticize the government in 1996 when
\nSoeharto was still in power. He directed Ketoprak Kolosal in an
\nevent organized by the Yogyakarta government to celebrate Sultan
\nHamengkubuwono X's eighth year on the throne.<\/p>\n
\"The sultan said that criticizing (the government) through
\nworks of art is better than staging street demonstrations,\" he
\nrecalled. \"It was the sultan's statement that inspired me to do
\nall these works.\"<\/p>\n
Bondan inherited his talent from his father, who was a
\nketoprak actor. The fourth son of five children, he began acting
\nwhen he was a junior high school student and joined a wandering
\nketoprak group.<\/p>\n
He is a self-educated actor but he learned scriptwriting from
\nHandung Kussudarsono, elder brother of Yogyakarta's best known
\nchoreographer Bagong Kussudiardjo. Bondan still writes scripts
\nfor ketoprak groups performing for the state television network
\nTVRI's stations in Yogyakarta and Surabaya. In the past, he also
\nwrote scripts for the Sapta Mandala ketoprak group.<\/p>\n
His dedication to the Javanese traditional art has earned him
\nnumerous awards from the government and private institutions.<\/p>\n
The former journalist of Bernas newspaper and Javanese-
\nlanguage magazine Mekarsari is a strong proponent of the reform
\nmovement and the freedom it has brought.<\/p>\n
During the Soeharto era, public criticism of the government
\nwas almost bound to end in trouble for a performer. Criticism
\ncould only be couched in indirect terms and could not represent
\nthe main theme of an art performance.<\/p>\n
\"At that time, artists had to become the government's partner
\nin propaganda,\" Bondan said. \"Criticism had to be nicely
\ndisguised if you wanted to get home safely.\"<\/p>",
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