'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."