'The Burning Moon' focuses on workers<\/p>\n
By Helly Minarti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Four female workers dressed in black wearing
\nclownish masks stood on an open air stage in a wide lot owned by
\nRay Sahetapi, a film actor who now concentrates on his theater
\ngroup, Studio Oncor.<\/p>\n
The girls stood elegantly and sang a touching, slow dangdut
\nsong, Selamat Malam (Good Night), a hit from popular singer Evie
\nTamala. The song was part of the opening of Rembulan Terbakar
\n(The Burning Moon), a play by Teater ABU (Aneka Buruh) whose
\nmembers are mainly factory workers. The play was staged on Jan.
\n20 and the audience were free to choose where they sat on the wet
\ngrassy embankment.<\/p>\n
The Burning Moon was Teater Abu's fifth performance since it
\nwas founded in 1993. Unlike their earlier performances, which
\nwere full of verbal statements and symbols of the situation of
\nIndonesian workers, this time they modified songs -- dangdut,
\nrap, marches and ballads -- to communicate their problems and
\nlives as factory workers and as human beings.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to get trapped in a cliche of workers' theater
\nperformances which tend to exploit the bad treatment they
\nsuffer,\" said Margesti, the director. \"It's too predictable; the
\nclassic conflict with the employer ends with the workers loosing
\ntheir jobs,\" added Margesti, who is an actress.<\/p>\n
\"This time I asked them to share various aspects of their life
\nwhich reflects being a worker with all the consequences. It still
\nincludes the typical topics as their low wages, the empty
\npromises from their employers for health allowance, and the long
\nworking hours. Yet it also opens up the other facets of their
\nlife such as how becoming a worker can affect their love lives.\"<\/p>\n
One of the rap lyrics describes love in the factory. \"The
\nworking hours, uhh, the working hours. The morning shift, the
\nafternoon shift, the night shift. The fact is my boyfriend failed
\nto tolerate that. And we broke up again, broke up again!\"<\/p>\n
\"Acting in the theater doesn't solve my problem in the
\nfactory, but at least I have space to let out what's on my
\nchest,\" said Yuli, who feels the policy of the factory where she
\nworks is wrong. \"I just want them to keep their promises. Just
\nrecently I got very sick. The factory doctor said that I was just
\nfine and gave me the same medicine for my different complaints. I
\nchecked with a doctor outside the factory and he discovered
\nsomething was wrong with my kidney. It cost me a fortune to pay
\nfor the doctor and the medicine. The factory didn't give a damn
\nor care about it,\" Yuli said, flatly.<\/p>\n
\"At Teater ABU I can express what I feel. And It's relatively
\nharmless,\" Yuli added.<\/p>\n
Margesti understands this different perception of theater
\nplayers. \"All I know is that theater is a medium of art for the
\ncreator. For these people it is a means to express themselves.\"<\/p>\n
That's why Margesti declines judging her players by
\nprofessional acting criteria.<\/p>\n
\"They're different. Don't expect them to play like a real
\nactor or actress because what they do is actually playing their
\nown life. Their own story,\" said Margeti, who is married to the
\ndirector of Teater SAE, Budi S. Otong.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want them to act like me or to be like me. I only use
\nthe potential inside every member. I only make it shine better,\"
\nshe said. \"I really want to make them realize that they have
\nsomething that they can claim as their own. Not something that I
\ntransform. It's their acting.\"<\/p>\n
The group practices once a week in Margesti's house. \"I have
\nmy hands full now. I take the creative side as well as the whole
\nproduction,\" she added. She asked a few friends to join her so
\nthe workers can slowly take over management of the theater.<\/p>\n
The Burning Moon is based on a story a worker told her. \"A
\nfriend helped me in writing the story. Others thought about
\nraising funds and other things. All of us are independent people.
\nNot representing any organization in doing the job. And we and
\nthe workers are working side by side,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Margesti composed most of the songs herself and contacted
\nmusicians she calls \"Teater ABU's supporters\". The result is a
\ntruly sweet collage of music and song with theatrical body
\nmovement filled with symbolism.<\/p>\n
Teater ABU has never performed on a formal stage. Their first
\nplay, Nyanyian Pabrik (The Factory Song) was staged in the
\nBandung house of Indonesian painter Jeihan. They once performed
\non an impromptu stage outside the Bulungan Youth Center in South
\nJakarta when the annual Jakarta Theater Festival was held in
\nearly 1994. Both plays attracted a large crowd, including some
\ndistinguished figures in theater like as the late Arifin C. Noer.<\/p>\n
Last year they participated in a street celebration of the
\nIndonesian golden independence and also performed on a plain
\nstage at a corner near the Legal Aid Foundation's building in
\nCentral Jakarta. Last January they performed in a vacant lot in a
\nback area of Bintaro Jaya in southwestern Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The most important thing for them is for their colleagues to
\nsee them perform and share their feelings.<\/p>\n
At first, Teater ABU was supported by a non-governmental
\norganization specializing in female workers issues.<\/p>\n
\"I was hired as a professional to train them,\" Margesti said,
\nexplaining her first encounter with Teater ABU. Now her
\ninvolvement seems more emotional.<\/p>\n
\"We had to stop rehearsing for some time, especially when I
\ngot pregnant and had my second child. But they kept coming to me
\nand asking me to continue the program. Now the NGO which used to
\nsupport us has abandoned us and we try to do our best to
\nsurvive,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Margesti devotes not only her creative energy but also cuts
\ninto her household budget to support the group.<\/p>\n
\"We are working on getting financial support. There are always
\nfriends who sympathize with what we're doing. We always try to
\nkeep the budget low, but we still need money to pay for regular
\nexpenses such as transport for rehearsals and performances,\" said
\nMargesti, who has been acting for 20 years.<\/p>\n
\"They're very enthusiastic to go on with this theater, but the
\nfact is they also need support --- creatively and financially. In
\nthe mean time they're trying so hard to be self-sufficient. But
\nwith their minimum wages it is too hard to do.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-burning-moon-focuses-on-workers-1447893297",
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