Women portrayed as weak in Teater Garasi's 'Sri'<\/p>\n
By Ahmad Solikhan<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Goddess Sri, personified with a bunch of
\nripe rice stalks, represents hope for prosperity for many rural
\nJavanese farmers. Many Javanese have adopted the Goddess' name
\nfor themselves to symbolize their hope for happiness and
\nprosperity.<\/p>\n
But obviously, not all people named Sri can harvest happiness.<\/p>\n
A play performed by Teater Garasi in Yogyakarta, on June 27
\nand June 28, at Soietet Militer Hall, tells the tragic story of
\nthe charming and beautiful Sri. She is a village girl who's
\nsimple desires, and the oppressive values of the community, lead
\nher to do a terrible thing.<\/p>\n
The show, part of Yogyakarta Art Festival XI, was directed by
\nGunawan Cindhil Maryanto, and will be held again on July 1 and
\nJuly 2 at Taman Budaya in Surakarta.<\/p>\n
Like other women in her village, Sri spends most of her life
\nat home helping her parents at the kitchen and in the paddy
\nfields. In Javanese culture, so the saying goes, wanita (woman)
\nis short for wani ditata lan konco wingking, which means \"willing
\nto be ordered around and be a 'backseat friend'\".<\/p>\n
Sri, along with the other girls in her neighborhood, walks
\nalong the farm dikes carrying lunch for her toiling parents. Then
\nthe girls would go home and do the laundry at the river,
\ngossiping about the boys they admire.<\/p>\n
Men plow in the farm and herd cows. They only go home at dusk.
\nCountry men never stay idle. There is always something to do.
\nThere is none of the so-called \"unemployment\" in the villages.<\/p>\n
Sri had a steady relationship with Bondan, her neighbor. But
\nthe love affair was crushed when her parents decided to match her
\nwith Damar, an elementary school teacher. So Sri can do nothing
\nbut accept what her parents have decided for her, although she
\ndoes not love Damar.<\/p>\n
Sri tried very hard to forget Bondan and learn to love Damar,
\nher husband. When her love for Damar started to grow, she
\ndespaired to find that there was no sign that she would have a
\nbaby.<\/p>\n
The failure to produce an offspring has stirred every family
\nspat. Sri's disappointment got worse whenever she saw her friends
\ncradling their babies. Her frustration was pushed to the limit
\nwhen an elderly woman offered her a man that she guaranteed could
\ngive her a baby.<\/p>\n
\"I still have my dignity. And I don't need a seed from someone
\nelse, although I am dying for a child,\" Sri retorted, pointing a
\nfinger at the elderly woman. \"I want a child from my husband.\"<\/p>\n
Sri could not bear the loneliness at home while her husband
\nwas on the farm. So every time he went away, she went to visit
\nher neighbors.<\/p>\n
She soon found her first love budding again. Each day at dusk
\nshe would go to the end of the alley to see Bondan coming back
\nfrom the farm with his cow.<\/p>\n
Her neighbors began to spread rumors that she had again become
\nintimate with her ex-boyfriend. Damar rarely found his wife in
\nthe house when he returned home from the farm, and he, too, began
\nto suspect she was having an affair.<\/p>\n
Tension in the family, triggered by the absence of a baby,
\nbecame worse. Sri accused Damar of being unable to give her a
\nbaby, and Damar accused her of having an affair with Bondan.<\/p>\n
The family rift ended with Sri hacking Damar to death. \"I am
\nnow free from suffering,\" she sighed in relief. \"Now rises a new
\nspirit and hope for a baby.\"<\/p>\n
Bondan had gone to a town far away from home and was not
\ncoming back. The disoriented Sri retreated to Pesanggrahan
\nMountain, where she prayed for a baby.<\/p>\n
She burned incense while praying in the dark. There were
\nspirits roaming around, and they possessed her. She could not
\naccept that remaining childless was the divine will, and she
\nrejected this by murdering her husband.<\/p>\n
The play is adapted from Yerma, a story created by F. Garcia
\nLorca.<\/p>\n
Performed by nine men and women, the play uses simple
\nstoryline and language. The actors performed very well. Very
\nHandayani, who played the elderly woman, was particularly
\nexcellent. Erythrina, who played Sri, has not yet sharpened her
\nacting skills to play more naturally.<\/p>\n
But observers agreed that Teater Garasi showed a great deal of
\nimprovement in the play.<\/p>\n
The simple storyline portrays women as weak creatures who have
\nto resort to violence to show their determination.<\/p>",
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