CCF takes theatrical approach to literature

CCF takes theatrical approach to literature

By Helly Minarti

YOGYAKARTA (JP): In an era of multimedia distraction, how do
you entice people to open a good book? It is especially difficult
in Indonesia, where efforts to popularize book reading are often
drowned out by the clamor of electronic media.

"I noticed that while working at the French Embassy in charge
of literature translation years ago," said Jean Pascal Elbaz, now
the director of the French Cultural Center (CCF) in Yogyakarta.

Last year, he designed a bimonthly literature reading program
in collaboration with Teater Garasi and Kalangan Anak Zaman.

"I did it because Indonesians have a strong oral tradition,"
he said.

Launched in March 1998, the program presents literary works
using a more theatrical approach.

"Sometimes we have authors read their works, sometimes we
enliven the characters through actors by modifying it into a
small play," said Yudi Ahmad Tagudin, the director of Teater
Garasi.

Tagudin and Elbaz decide the program contents, with the
creative execution left to Tagudin. More than half a dozen works
of international and Indonesian authors have been staged.

"The first was one of Kahlil Gibran's essays. Then Saman by
Ayu Utami, poems by Sitok Srengenge and the new, unpublished
lyric prose of Linus (Suryadi). We also read short stories of
Yogyakarta's young authors," said Tagudin

Some of the authors, like Ayu Utami, have come to Yogyakarta
for question-and-answer sessions after the readings. Sitok gave a
reading of his works.

"Linus read his prose accompanied by gamelan music and dance,"
said Tagudin.

The latest event was a show last Saturday of The Little
Prince, the famous fairy tale by French author Antoine de Saint-
Exupery.

"It was the audience's request to stage a French literary work
since this is a program by CCF. I just read the book a few months
back and was instantly charmed," said Tagudin.

The Little Prince is an allegorical tale that wittily offers
philosophical perspectives through its main character, a
universal theme which appeals to children and adults. On the
night, Tagudin arranged a small play with three actors --
including himself -- playing the characters. An animated version
of the play, taken from a CD-Rom, was flashed intermittently on a
large screen.

Tagudin read the part of the story's narrator, Arti Wulandari
was the Prince and Kusen Adipahadi won most of the laughs in
witty cameos as a rose, a drunkard, a numbers-fixated
businessman, a pathetic king and a few more.

The result -- despite the old, rigid translation of publisher
Pustaka Jaya -- was a flowing and amusing performance, complete
with musical illustrations and subtle lighting of the actors. In
the absence of the traditional theatrical stage set, the
performance never failed to invite spontaneous laughter and
giggles for every funny line and ironic twist in the story.

One of the amused audience members was Elbaz himself.

"I trusted Yudhi with the execution and I hadn't seen the
program until tonight. I'm surprised that it turned out very
well."

The reading, this time of the whole book, ran about two hours,
with half of the audience members staying on for the discussion
titled "Recalling Fairy tales that Have Shaped Our Awareness"
with Elisabeth D. Prasetyo. A co-translator of Indonesian
fairy tales and the writer of her own, she presented her paper on
the subject.

"It amazes me as well (the number of visitors)," said Tagudin.

Elbaz added: "The record was when we read excerpts of Ayu
Utami's book, Saman. We held it for two days and we were forced
to limit the number of people because of the auditorium's limited
capacity."

The auditorium was packed with youngsters who paid Rp 2,000
for nonmembers of the French-Indonesia Institute, as CCF
Yogyakarta is popularly known, and half-price for members. The
credit goes to Kalangan Anak Zaman -- an umbrella organization of
Teater Garasi -- which arranged ticket sales, promotion and
production back-up.

The program, especially the last session of The Little Prince,
also is being considered for CCF offices in Jakarta, Bandung and
Surabaya.

"For the next session, we still don't have fixed ideas. That
is what's (typical) of this program -- we can make it very actual
and practical. Like when we decided to have Ayu Utami read her
work, knowing that she would come to Yogyakarta to attend another
event," said Elbaz.

Will French literature be a mainstay of the program?

"It doesn't have to be so," Elbaz said. "It has been so since
the beginning. The main target is to attract Indonesians to read
literary works -- then hopefully they will eventually read French
works."

The experimental approach seems to have worked well. Many
people flocked to the amphitheater auditorium on Saturday night
despite the concert by famous Bandung rock group /rif at a nearby
sports hall. Instead, they paid a few thousand rupiah to be
lulled into the world of a foreign fairy tale.