'LUKA' examines wounds in RI society<\/p>\n
By Lauren Bain<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Down a narrow street in Cikini, Central Jakarta,
\nthe rehearsal studio is nightclub-hot and gymnasium-sweaty. A
\nhuge white screen divides the space, a canvas for enormous
\nshadows of serpentine bodies, climbing and crawling all over each
\nother.<\/p>\n
Colored lights flash around the room, deliberately
\ndisorientating and distorting; music, like a nightmare
\nsoundtrack, thumps out into the street and beyond. There are
\nabout 30 performers involved in Teater Mandiri's production of
\nLUKA (Wound), and tonight, like most nights, they are working
\nhard.<\/p>\n
Teater Mandiri -- under the direction of internationally
\nacclaimed writer and director Putu Wijaya -- will be
\ncommemorating its 30th anniversary with the presentation of LUKA
\nin Jakarta, beginning on Friday until Sunday. LUKA is a loose
\nadaptation of the script The Coffin Is Too Big for the Hole by
\nSingaporean playwright Kuo Pao Kun, and was first performed by
\nTeater Mandiri late last year at the Festival of Asian Theater in
\nTokyo. The adaptation of Pao Kun's script represents a shift for
\nTeater Mandiri, which prior to this work, had only ever performed
\nworks by Putu. LUKA will tour to Yugoslavia in September.<\/p>\n
The Coffin Is Too Big For the Hole is a story about a child
\nwho is unable to bury his grandfather's coffin because it is too
\nbig for the grave. Conflict ensues. Eventually, it is agreed that
\nthe grandfather's coffin can be buried alongside a child's
\nbecause, when combined, their plots are big enough for both
\ncoffins.<\/p>\n
Putu explained that he chose to adapt The Coffin partly out of
\nnecessity -- in order to accept the invitation to present a work
\nat the Festival of Asian Theater he had to work on one of Kuo Pao
\nKun's scripts. However, he says that he also recognized
\nsimilarities between this work and some of his own works,
\nespecially Aduh and Gerr, produced in 1974 and 1981 respectively,
\nwhich deal with the ritual of burial. He also felt that there was
\na close connection between the themes in The Coffin and the
\ncontemporary Indonesian political context.<\/p>\n
\"LUKA deals with the issue of difference and unity in
\nIndonesia ... in the past, difference was forbidden, for the sake
\nof national unity we had to ignore diversity. But difference
\nshould be seen as a source of strength, and not as something
\nwhich needs to be suppressed,\" Putu said.<\/p>\n
And diversity is something which is evident not only in the
\ntheme of LUKA but in the composition of Teater Mandiri itself.
\nMembers of the group include sinetron (teleseries) stars,
\nbuskers, laborers, former thieves, students and young executives.
\nTheir bodies are all sizes and shapes, and in rehearsal, each is
\nchallenged to explore his\/her personal physical limits.<\/p>\n
Although Putu did translate The Coffin into Indonesian as a
\nstarting point for creating LUKA, there is very little text or
\ndialog remaining in the final adaptation. Teater Mandiri has
\nalways experimented with both text and nontext-based theatrical
\nforms, but since the early 1990s has moved away from using
\nwritten scripts. Its work combines elements of both traditional
\nIndonesian performance -- the influence of wayang kulit (leather
\npuppets) is obvious in its use of the shadow screen for example
\n-- and Western contemporary theater. Teater Mandiri's work has
\nvariously been described as surreal, dreamlike, absurd,
\npostmodern and fragmented. At the same time, it is accessible,
\ndeliberately left open for interpretation and politically
\ncritical without being didactic.<\/p>\n
One frequent criticism of Teater Mandiri's work is that it
\nalways uses the same idioms, the same theatrical tricks. The
\ngiant white screen, the use of shadows and sound to \"terrorize\"
\naudiences, have all become instantly recognizable trademarks of
\nthe group's work. Images of violence and conflict, pounding
\nmusic, the sound of soldiers' running feet and the manipulation
\nof mass crowds -- definitely terrifying, definitely real for many
\nIndonesians -- but some critics argue that Teater Mandiri has
\nbeen producing this kind of theater for a long time.<\/p>\n
Putu Wijaya argues, however, that despite using these
\ntheatrical strategies in most of his works over the past 10 years
\nhe is yet to exhaust all the possibilities. He delights in
\nmanipulating images, testing and overstepping the boundaries of
\nshadow and light, challenging notions of what constitutes
\n\"Indonesian theater\".<\/p>\n
In one fragment of LUKA, the shadows of 100 hands stretch
\nupward, trying to reach something, grabbing desperately at the
\nair. Do they want food? Water? A lift up into a boat? One might
\nbe reminded of refugees, the tragedy in Sampit, the displacement
\nof thousands of Indonesians which has quietly slipped out of the
\nnewspapers. Whether Putu Wijaya had this particular crisis in
\nmind when he made this image is not really the point: LUKA should
\nserve as a reminder of the crises happening far from the walls of
\nGedung Kesenian Jakarta, and the impetus toward positive action.<\/p>\n
LUKA will be performed at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, March 23 to
\nMarch 25. Bookings and inquiries at tel. 3808283 or 3441982.
\nTickets are Rp 25,000 and Rp 20,000.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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