JP\/18\/RASH<\/p>\n
'Rashomon', a Japanese play with Malay adaptation<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N.
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
A robbery occurred on the road to Yamashina town.<\/p>\n
The victims were a martial arts fighter, Rustam, and his wife,
\nMaesaroh. News about this robbery, which was followed by a
\nmurder, spread far and wife rapidly.<\/p>\n
Mat Tholibun bin Samiun was arrested. He, Maesaroh and the
\nsoul of Rustam made statements about the robbery and murder.<\/p>\n
The three gave different versions, with each claiming version
\nwas correct. They claimed to be respectable human beings and
\nwanted to be treated as such. Finally, the interests of each made
\nit harder to get to the truth.<\/p>\n
Filled with satire and tragedy, Rashomon (The Bandits), a play
\nby famous Japanese playwright Ryunosuke Akutagawa, dwells on
\nproblems related to lies, love and truth.<\/p>\n
Lampung's Teater Komunkas Berkat Yakin, generally referred to
\nas Teater Kober (Kober Theatrical Group), performed an adaptation
\nof this play in a uniquely Lampung Malay folk theatrical style.<\/p>\n
Director Ari Pahala Hutabarat injected life into this
\nadaptation of Rashomon and made it contextually relevant to our
\ncontemporary problems.<\/p>\n
The adaptation of Rashomon is indeed very interesting as it is
\na reminder of the story of Ken Arok, later the king of the
\nSingosari Kingdom in Central Java.<\/p>\n
When a robber, Ken Arok was attracted by Ken Dedes' thighs,
\nwhich were exposed while she was getting out of a coach. Ken
\nDedes was the wife of Tunggul Ametung, the regent of Tumapel.<\/p>\n
Secretly, Ken Arok had an ambition to possess Ken Dedes and at
\nthe same time seize power from Tunggul Ametung. He went to Empu
\nGandring, a famous kris maker, to have a kris made for him. The
\nkris was later used to take the lives of Empu Gandring, Kebo Ijo
\n(a palace guard), Tunggul Ametung, Tohjaya (Tunggul Ametung's
\nson), Anusapati (Ken Arok's son) and Ken Arok himself.<\/p>\n
Robber Mat Tholibun also did something similar to what Ken
\nArok did. Charmed by the beauty of Maesaroh and desiring her, he
\ndevised a ruse. He pretended to help Rustam, Maesaroh's husband,
\nduring his journey. On the way, Tholibun took Rustam to a valley
\nto have a look at an extraordinary sword.<\/p>\n
Intrigued by Tholibun's story about the sword, Rustam agreed
\nto visit the valley with Tholibun and left his wife alone in the
\ntown border. Mat Tholibun tied Rustam and beat him black and
\nblue. He also raped Maesaroh in front of Rustam.<\/p>\n
As Tholibun would not kill someone who was powerless, he
\nchallenged Rustam to a duel. The two fought fiercely, and Rustam
\nwas killed. This was what happened according to Tholibun's
\nversion.<\/p>\n
Rustam's soul gave a different story, though. He said Maesaroh
\nflirted with Mat Tholibun and the two eventually had sex. Knowing
\nthat his wife had slept with another man, Rustam committed
\nsuicide after fighting with Tholibun.<\/p>\n
Born a Batak, Ari Pahala Hutabarat, a Lampung poet and
\ndramatist, used the folk theatrical concept for this performance.<\/p>\n
In this way, the players were close to the audience. For the
\nstage, he used the arena concept, not a conventional proscenium,
\nusually used in modern theatrical performances.<\/p>\n
Consequently, there was only an imaginary line separating the
\nplayers and the audience. Members of the audience sat on the
\nground and could readily respond to the dialog of the play.<\/p>\n
About his choice of the folk theatrical concept, Ari argued
\nthat it was a concept Indonesian audiences were familiar with.
\nThis concept is used in folk theatrical performances in many
\nregions across the country, such as ketoprak and ludruk in Java,
\nlenong and topeng Betawi in Jakarta, randai in Minang, didong in
\nAceh and warahan in Lampung.<\/p>\n
The performance of Rashomon by Teater Kober very clearly
\nshowed the influence of warahan, a folk drama with didactic
\nthemes. The beginning and the end of the adapted play, at least,
\noffered pieces of advice.<\/p>\n
Lampung characteristics were very prominent in the performance
\nof this adaptation of Rashomon, discernible not only in the scene
\ndivision but also in the names of the characters, the costumes,
\nthe music, the movement and the props of the players (for
\nexample, brooms made of the veins of coconut palm fronds).<\/p>\n
Mat Thalibun bin Samiun is obviously a Malay name. To show
\nthat this adaptation of a Japanese play offered a reality most
\nintimate to the Indonesian audience, one of the scenes featured
\nPak Haji, a haj wearing a black peci (felt cap) and loose black
\nsilk trousers usually worn by martial arts fighters, with a
\nprayer rug carried on one of his shoulders.<\/p>\n
The heart-rending sound of a Lampung flute, the dynamic
\nmovement of rakot, a martial art form from Lampung, and the
\nheart-rending belting of hahiwang blended together in a smooth-
\nflowing and captivating performance. Hahiwang, a piece of oral
\nliterature from Krui, West Lampung, contains a lamentation for
\nthe dead.<\/p>\n
The adoption of traditional elements by Teater Kober in its
\nperformance shows that life is a perennial problem for everybody.
\nAt the same time, it also shows that the beauty of art is
\nuniversal in nature. The beautiful sadness you find in Japan can
\nalso be found in Lampung or elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n
The adaption of a foreign play is nothing new in Indonesia,
\nwith this being the ninth for Teater Kober, among them an
\nadaptation of Samuel Becket's Waiting for Godot, Chekhov's
\nAfternoon in the Garden and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.<\/p>\n
On the reason for including the Malay element in the
\nadaptation of Rashomon, Ari said his theatrical group wanted to
\noffer dramatic movement and sounds that were familiar to the
\naudience.<\/p>\n
\"Our interpretation of Rashomon has been adjusted to social
\nconditions familiar to our Lampung environment. It is the tug-of-
\nwar between the text and the context that we have tried to
\npresent,\" Ari said.<\/p>\n
\"Like the blaring of rock `n roll music, our performance tried
\nto create a similar effect. We tried to give sound to silence
\nwith the rhythm of our bodies and that of nature. This
\nperformance was like the Japanese short poetry haiku: simple,
\nimaginative and sublime,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Ryunosuke Akutagawa was one of Japan's great dramatists and
\nwriters. Born in Tokyo on March 1, 1892, he studied English
\nliterature at the Royal University in Tokyo and graduated in
\n1913. In reputation, he was on a par with the great French writer
\nGustave Flaubert. Aside from Rashomon, he also wrote Hell, Kappa,
\nDeath, A Christian, The General, In the Forest, Mirage and Life
\nof a Madman, among others.<\/p>\n
On July 24, 1927, Akutagawa committed suicide for unknown
\nreasons. However, when he was still alive, he once said that if
\nhe ever committed suicide the reason, most probably, would be
\n\"the fog of fear\".<\/p>\n
After World War I, when many writers dwelled on the naturalism
\nof sex and politics, Akutagawa went back to the mysticism of
\ntraditional folklore and Japan's ancient legends.<\/p>\n
Rashomon was filmed by great Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa
\nand was internationally acclaimed.<\/p>\n
Rashomon was performed in the Hall of Center for Students
\nActivities, Lampung University (Sept. 29) and, also in the old
\nhall of the Pedagogy School of Lampung University (Sept. 30).<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, was scheduled to be performed in the New Workshop
\nat Ismail Marzuki Park (TIM), Jl. Cikini Raya 73 (Oct. 7) and in
\nUtan Kayu Theater (TUK) (Oct. 14 and Oct. 15). Later, it will be
\nperformed all over Indonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp18rash-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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