Play explores controversial issue of polygamy<\/p>\n
Singgir Kartana, Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
It's midnight and Lastri is finding sleep difficult. She is
\nrestless with worry and jealousy as her husband often returns
\nhome very late at night. Still, she waits faithfully for him.<\/p>\n
Sumanto, her husband, is not working overtime. He is "busy"...
\nwith his two other wives.<\/p>\n
The tension between Lastri and Sumanto has infiltrated every
\naspect of their home. The couple's teenaged son, Deri, frequents
\ndiscotheques and has become a drug addict. Later, he overdoses
\nand ends up in hospital.<\/p>\n
Sumanto's secret is revealed and Lastri's heart is torn to
\npieces. The three wives finally meet while visiting Deri at the
\nhospital.<\/p>\n
This gloomy story was brought to the stage in the play,
\nKebelet Kawin Lagi (Desperate to Marry Again), presented on Aug.
\n9 at Yogyakarta Cultural Park's concert hall building. It was
\nthe initiative of the Coalition of Indonesian Women's Yogyakarta
\nchapter.<\/p>\n
Simply constructed yet thematically serious, the story kept
\nthe audience sitting tight for a full two hours enjoying the
\nwitty dialogs.<\/p>\n
It was the comedy that really drew the audience in, thanks to
\nthe participation of professional comedians Didik Nini Thowok, Yu
\nBeruk, Joned and Dalijo; guest star, theater artist and AIDS
\nactivist Baby Jim Aditya; and actors from the Gardanala theater
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
Right from the start, the laughter erupted, while Lastri
\nlamented her husband's "long hours" she suddenly chuckled at the
\nnewspaper headline, "this month, the capital city of Afghanistan
\nis changed from Kabul to Tesi". Kabul in this context was not the
\ncity but a reference to the name of a member of the Srimulat
\ncomedy troupe, Kabul a.k.a. Tesi.<\/p>\n
Played by Didik Nini Thowok, Lastri the typical Javanese woman
\n-- refined and polite -- verged on comical caricature. When
\nLastri cursed, she embellished the rough language with a soft-
\nspoken manner, creating a "naughty" but nice impression. This
\nfell just short of satirizing the Javanese personality, that is
\nat worst said to be hypocritical, or otherwise, multi-layered --
\neach layer revealing a different side.<\/p>\n
Didik, who has a good reputation as a dancer, gave a quite
\nsuccessful performance of Lastri as a graceful and noble woman,
\nfraught with weaknesses and ambiguity.<\/p>\n
Baby Jim Aditya, playing the role of Baby, one of Suminto's
\nwives, also gave an impressive performance.<\/p>\n
A member of the famous theater group Teater Koma, Baby Jim
\nplayed Baby as a coquettish urbanite who resented her societal
\nstatus. Baby Jim and Didik were great comedic partners but joking
\naside, the play was not intended to be light entertainment. In
\nfact, it was part of a campaign against violence against women --
\nin this case, polygamy.<\/p>\n
Masruchah, chairwoman of Yogyakarta's Coalition of Indonesian
\nWomen, said that in many cases a husband gets married again
\nwithout the knowledge of -- let alone the permission from -- his
\nwife and family.<\/p>\n
"Polygamy is a crime against marriage, especially if it is
\npopularized by the recent award for polygamy. Polygamy needs no
\ncelebration. I support the idea of the Coalition of Indonesian
\nWomen to perform this play," said Baby Jim before the play.<\/p>\n
An Indonesian businessman, Puspo Wardoyo, the owner of the
\nWong Solo restaurant franchise, who has four wives, presented the
\n"Polygamy Award" late July this year, for men who had married
\nmore than one wife. More than 30 women's organizations as well as
\nindividuals protested the award.<\/p>\n
The play had a sizable audience, with dozens of people forced
\nto watch from outside the hall, since all one thousand seats were
\ntaken.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the audience seemed to be so caught up in the
\ncomedy that the play's message was lost.<\/p>\n
Maybe, this was because most of the audience was made up of
\nactivists from non-governmental organizations and university
\nstudents, who were already familiar with the campaign against
\nviolence against women. The play might better deliver its message
\nto ordinary people, especially men who have two or more wives.<\/p>\n
"It would be better to perform the play at an Islamic boarding
\nschools or among entrepreneurs. When a man takes another wife, he
\nusually justifies this by presenting arguments from his religion
\nor hiding behind purportedly economic reasons," said one of the
\naudience, Wahyuningsih from Danurejan, Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
A major flaw of the play were the discotheque scenes which
\nwere intended to be a description of Deri's path to addiction.
\nThe scenes took up much more time than necessary. The audience
\nwould have been forgiven for thinking that the play's main
\nmessage was the danger of drugs.<\/p>\n
In general, the play -- and its debate on polygamy -- was
\nquite entertaining, but it just missed the mark.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/play-explores-controversial-issue-of-polygamy-1447893297",
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