Wisran still thirsts for challenge<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Bukittinggi, West Sumatra<\/p>\n
If there is anyone more happy for author and playwright Wisran
\nHadi after receiving the Art Award from the Ministry of Culture
\nand Tourism recently, it would be his five children.<\/p>\n
Comparing Wisran to other fathers, the boys had expected their
\nfather to also work nine-to-five, and are confounded that he
\ndoesn't.<\/p>\n
When the awards started coming, "they said 'it's OK Pak, Bapak
\ncan work at home. Good job'," Wisran said quoting his youngest.<\/p>\n
Born in Padang, West Sumatra, on July 27, 1945, Wisran Hadi is
\none of Indonesia's more prolific writers who has earned numerous
\nawards both within and outside the country.<\/p>\n
One of his earlier scripts, Gaung (Reverberation), won the
\n1975 Jakarta Art Institute's (IKJ) Award for drama scripts. In
\n2000 he received the Southeast Asian Writers Award (SEA Write
\nAwards) from Thailand, and most recently an art award on Oct. 20,
\nfor outstanding achievement in developing Indonesian culture and
\nart.<\/p>\n
However, writing was not his initial vocation in life, in fact
\nit was his teacher at the Higher School for Teachers (SGA) who
\nunknowingly put Wisran on the artistic path.<\/p>\n
Noticing Wisran's flair for art, the aforementioned teacher
\nadvised him to continue his studies at Yogyakarta's Indonesian
\nAcademy of Fine Arts (ASRI, now Indonesian Institute of Art), to
\nstudy painting.<\/p>\n
But once his studies ended in 1969, Wisran found it difficult
\nto keep on painting in his hometown.<\/p>\n
"For five years I tried to keep painting, but at the time
\npainting tools were very expensive and had to be bought in Medan
\n(North Sumatra)," Wisran said, adding that after five years he
\nturned his talents to writing instead.<\/p>\n
His association during his university days with playwrights
\nsuch as Putu Wijaya and Arifin C. Noer, as well as with poet W.S.
\nRendra, inspired him to become a playwright. "At that time
\neveryone in Yogya was closely associated, I learned a lot (from
\nthem)," he said.<\/p>\n
When it comes to actually writing a play, Wisran said that he
\nlearnt only from the best, in this case Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
"At first it was very difficult, but from reading
\n(Shakespeare) I know how to write. Asrul Sani's translations
\ngreatly helped me," he said.<\/p>\n
Wisran's win for Gaung in the IKJ Award in 1975 assured his
\nplace as a playwright and in 1976 together with poet Hamid Jabbar
\nand Upita Agustine, Wisran established Bumi Teater (Earth
\nTheater). The group lasted 15 years before its members got busy
\nwith other projects.<\/p>\n
Wisran spent 1977 studying at Iowa University's International
\nWriting Program, and spent 1978 and 1987 observing American and
\nJapanese modern theater.<\/p>\n
Despite studying modern theater from the West, Wisran's plays
\nremained loyal to Minangkabau culture, history, myths and
\nlegends, and other familiar themes.<\/p>\n
"I'm not good at writing fiction. When I make a play I need to
\nlearn first, from history books, from observations, and
\ninterviews," Wisran explained, "that's why my wife often mocks me
\nthat for me writing a play is like writing a thesis".<\/p>\n
For his 2000 play Empat Lakon Perang Padri (Four Plays of
\nPadri War), for example, Wisran spent more than three years to
\nprepare it.<\/p>\n
"I made lots of questions that I had to answer. Who was Imam
\nBonjol? If he was a Minang what was his traditional title? Who
\nwas his wife, his children, the notes he left behind?" he
\nrelated. The Padri War, that occurred between 1821 and 1837, was
\na war between tradition and Islam and later expanded to a fight
\nagainst the Dutch, with Imam Bonjol as one of the leaders.<\/p>\n
The result, besides the play itself, was a valuable source of
\nhistorical notes and teaching material. "It all tires me out, but
\nI like doing it," Wisran, who had a heart attack in 1990 because
\nof overwork, said. "When I start working I'm like a truck with no
\nbrakes."<\/p>\n
Furthermore, his time in the United States strengthened his
\nresolve to write themes closer to home. Wisran noted that unlike
\nAmerican and Japanese modern theater, Indonesian modern theater
\nnever creates villains based on race.<\/p>\n
"It's interesting, when black Americans or Japanese Americans
\ncreate a play the villains are always white people. But when
\nwhite people create a play, colored people are cast as servants
\nand villains," he said, adding that in this case politics plays a
\nstrong role even in theater.<\/p>\n
"It's not like that here. You don't see Putu Wijaya, who is
\nBalinese, portray Bali people as better than the rest. Nor do we
\nsee Rendra and Nano (Riantiarno) do something like that. We never
\nfeel (in their plays) that the Javanese are superior to the rest
\nof us".<\/p>\n
Always restless for a challenge, Wisran has stopped writing
\nplays in the last three years -- his last play was Empat Lakon
\nPerang Padri -- explaining that he felt he had reached the
\nculmination point of his creativity in writing plays and was
\nafraid of repeating himself.<\/p>\n
"I want to try writing novels, learn about its difficulties. I
\nalready know how to write plays," he added.<\/p>\n
A compilation of his short stories was published in Malaysia
\nunder the title Daun-daun Mahoni Gugur Lagi (Mahogany Leaves Fall
\nAgain).<\/p>\n
Nowadays, Wisran spends his time teaching and collaborating
\nwith artists from Malaysia. For the last three years he has been
\na lecturer for creative writing at the Malaysian National Academy
\nof Arts, and recently collaborated with Malaysian artists in the
\nscenario writing of Mahsuri, a Malaysian folk story.<\/p>",
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