'A Streetcar Named Desire' to play in Jakarta

'A Streetcar Named Desire' to play in Jakarta

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Last time it was model Tamara Blezinsky. Now
it's another model's turn: Donna Harun.

Teater Lembaga is doing it once more. Following the success of
its 1997 staging of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the
Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ)-based theater group is performing
Tennessee William's Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named
Desire. The performance is at the Jakarta Playhouse (GKJ) from
July 9 to July 13, 1999. Again, to ensure that spectators come in
droves, the group is employing its tried-and-true marketing
tactic: include a celebrity in the cast.

It does not matter if the celebrity has no theatrical
training. "I remember that Donna once told me about her
aspirations to act in a stage play," Asniar Shahab, one of Teater
Lembaga's producers, said. "It so happens that Teater Lembaga is
looking for another celebrity to take part in its latest
production. I called Donna and she enthusiastically agreed to be
included in the cast."

The need to recruit a famous face to join the group's lesser-
known actors is largely due to the struggle the producers face to
finance production. "It is still hard to convince people to
invest in theatrical productions," Shahab said. "Unless we have
a name that really sells."

Thus Donna is welcomed aboard. Is it a coincidence that the
two celebrities lured to join the company to date are better
known for having graced the catwalk and magazine ads rather than
the theatrical stage?

"It's not a matter of having models in our productions," said
the play's 48-year-old director Joseph Ginting. "We also
considered well-known actors from TV and so on. But in addition
to being passionate about acting in this play even if she doesn't
have formal training, the person we need should also have time
availability. Some people we asked were freaked out by our
rehearsal schedule, which goes on until late at night. Donna,
however, has been doing great. She has been rehearsing with the
rest of the cast since May at our IKJ campus, and we have no
complaints about her."

Actor Ucok Siregar, whose character is married to Donna's
character, seconded the emotion. "It took Donna some time to
adapt, but after she did, she's been doing great ever since," he
said.

"There have been no obstacles for me, no problems," Donna
said. "At first I was really nervous. But my fellow actors were
really generous and supportive. When I made mistakes, I would ask
them for some helpful hints, and they obliged. Now when a costar
makes a mistake, I am confident enough to tell him, 'You made a
mistake!'" she said laughingly with a naughty glint in her eyes.

OK, whatever. So it is really a nonissue that a model
untrained in acting is included in a theatrical production.
After all, Donna didn't get to play Blanche or Stella, the play's
main characters. She is delegated to the small role of Eunice,
Stella's close friend, even though her top-billing in the show's
poster and ads overshadows the names of lead actors Epy S.
Pradipta, Pitt Ermass and Linda Djatnika.

Pradipta, 28, is assigned the role of Blanche Dubois. The
lanky, bespectacled woman confirms the toughness of the part.
Dubois is a neurotic, alcoholic, middle-aged former teacher who
visits her sister Stella (Djatnika) in the slum area she lives
in, and later falls victim to Stella's rough and abusive husband,
Stanley (Ermass).

"It's hard for me to bring up the elegant, aristocratic ways
of Blanche Dubois," Pradipta said. "And I'm such a tomboyish
person." But Pradipta is no stranger to the character. She once
played Blanche in a college production that was also her final
assignment before graduating from the Theater Department of IKJ
in 1994. Playing the role this time around is more fun for her,
because she can concentrate on playing Blanche, and does not have
to think about aspects of the play such as the set or costumes.
"Those things have been taken care of by other people," she said,
smiling.

Playing the loud, coarse and uneducated Stanley Kowalski who
spends a good deal of his stage time smacking and raping women is
a huge physical and mental challenge for Pitt Ermass. Physical
demands are nothing new though to the stocky, dark-skinned actor
who performs in the action TV show Tutur Tinular. Ermass also
studied theater at IKJ and took part in Teater Lembaga's
productions of Beckett's Endgame and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

"Teater Lembaga already performed Streetcar in 1995, and it
took six months to prepare. So it's a challenge to prepare this
production and for me to prepare this role in just two months.
We'll see," said the 32-year-old man, whose neat attire and well-
mannered speech belies the potential for Stanley Kowalski to jump
out of him.

This 24th production of Teater Lembaga will retain the names,
characters and the late 1940s setting of Williams' play, even
though Blanche, Stanley, Stella, Mitch and the rest will be
speaking Indonesian courtesy of Toto Sudarto Bachtiar's
translation. Director Ginting said that the theme brought up by
this play is universal, that of how men tend to oppress and
mistreat women, even if they cannot really live without them. He
said it happens everywhere in the world, including the U.S. as
well as Indonesia.

Teater Lembaga was founded in 1975 by Indonesian theater gurus
Wahyu Sihombing, Tatiek Malyati, Djaduk Djajakusuma and Pramana
Padmodarmaya to facilitate the work and activities of students
and alumni of IKJ's Theater Department.

The group collaborated with IKJ outsiders for their production
of Julius Caesar two years ago, including the design talent of
famous couturier Harry Dharsono in addition to Blezynski's
budding acting talent. This time, beside Donna, there is fashion
designer Stephanus Hamy, who was also involved in Julius Caesar,
and who has agreed to contribute costumes for free. In exchange
for his services, the group is printing a book profiling Hamy's
designs for the production, to be distributed during
performances.

"We are trying to open ourselves up to outsiders because
funding is not sufficient," said Ginting, commenting on his
producers' revelation that costs for this production has so far
doubled the total cost for Julius Caesar, which is Rp 90 million.

"Besides, we haven't had anybody with real talent in costume
design ever come out from IKJ, nor from the Department of Theater
Management. So, we'll take whatever help we can get."