Artist Jemek Supardi delivers message with motion

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

After his successful show in Yogyakarta and the Central Java town of Surakarta last week, pantomime artist Jemek Supardi will display his skills at Bentara Budaya Jakarta this Friday.

For his Jakarta show, the artist, who is touring three cities to mark his 50th birthday, will present several pieces, Halusinasi Pelukis (Painter's Hallucination), Jakarta-Jakarta, Dokter Bedah (Surgeon) and Tukang Cukur (Barber).

As part of the show, the Yogyakartan artist, who started his pantomime career in 1976, will bring with him two young pantomime artists, Broto and Ashita.

The pieces to be staged here center mostly on social themes, a reflection of Jemek's own experiences and those of other, poor people within society.

Still, the problems, as portrayed in Jakarta-Jakarta, Tukang Cukur and Dokter Bedah, show the sorrow in an amusing way.

Jakarta-Jakarta, for instance, portrays a newcomer to the capital city who finds it hard to adjust to a metropolitan way of life. He ends up stranded on Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, falling asleep right there. In his dream, the statue on top of the traffic circle fountain comes to life, trying to become human. The statue-human reflects the newcomer himself, trying to survive in the jungle that is Jakarta. Facing a tough and inhumane struggle, the statue-human gives up, wanting to become a statue once again.

Dokter Bedah highlights a commercial aspect of the country's medical world, where patients are left in a weak position. The story centers on a patient waiting his turn to be examined by a doctor. When the patient is examined, the doctor finds strange things inside the patient's stomach and also a problem with the patient's genitals, which requires surgery. Without hesitation, the doctor replaces the patient's vital organ with a dog's.

Jakarta-Jakarta and Dokter Bedah are wonderfully played by Broto and Ashita. With special stage equipment that uses shadow puppet show techniques, the two pieces become lively. At times, the artists perform in front of the screen while at others, they perform behind it, leaving the audience to see their shadows.

Jemek performs in Halusinasi Pelukis and Tukang Cukur.

Although at his age Jemek might be not as strong as the young artists, he still displays his talent as one of the country's great pantomime artists.