Gandrik back with 'Mas Tom'

Asip A. Hasani & Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

After staging the successful Brigade Maling (The Thieves Brigade) here and abroad three years ago, Teater Gandrik of Yogyakarta returns to the stage, entertaining the public in Jakarta this weekend and Yogyakarta next week with a play titled Mas Tom.

For Gandrik, the play will be a new experience, since it is adapted by Heru Kesawa Murti from British writer Henry Fielding's classic work Tom Jones, transforming the setting into the golden era of batik business in the 1980s in Yogyakarta, Central Java.

The original story tells of Tom Jones, adopted son of a landlord who wins his father's love. In the play, Tom Jones is Tomidi, or Mas Tom (Butet Kertaradjasa), a stepson of a successful batik factory owner, Abirama (Heru Kesawa Murti).

Strong, honest and romantic Tom is loved by his father and as a rich man, Tom also loves spending his money for fun while helping his poor neighbor.

Tom's brother Haluan (Whani Darmawan), who is also an adopted son, is jealous of his father's love for Tom. Many times Haluan tells his father about Tom's bad habits to win his father's love. One day, he gets what he wanted. When he reported that Tom has committed adultery, Tom is kicked out of the house with a check for Rp 800 million in his hands.

Along his journey, Tom encounters many women who soon fall for him. One of these women is a married woman. When her husband finds out about the affair, a duel with Tom is unavoidable, leading to the death of the husband.

Tom is tried in court under the threat of the death penalty. In the legal proceedings, Tom's brother Haluan tries to get Tom sentenced to death by bribing witnesses to give false testimonies. Jealous Haluan wants Tom dead as it will make him the sole inheritor of Abirama's business dynasty and smoothen his way to marry Seruni (Diah Arum), the only daughter of successful businessman Milyar (Susilo Nugroho).

Since it was set up in 1983, Gandrik has performed 18 plays, most of them directed by Jujuk Prabowo with the scripts mostly written by Heru, except for Meh (1983) which was written by Fajar Suharno and Brigade Maling (1999) which was jointly written by Heru, Agus Noor and Indra Tranggono.

Brigade Maling was in fact the first performance by Teater Gandrik since some of its key actors such as Nevi Budianto and Joko Kamto left the group in 1993 to join popular poet Emha Ainun Najib's music group Kyai Kanjeng. Brigade Maling received a warm welcome from Gandrik's fans.

In 1996, some of the Teater Gandrik community gathered under the umbrella of Teater Paku to perform a play at Yogyakarta's Purna Budaya titled Inspektur Agung (The Great Inspector).

Now they are back with Mas Tom.

In a way, Mas Tom reminds the public of the most avidly watched case in the last two years: the trial of former president Soeharto's youngest son Tommy Soeharto, whose life was surrounded by beautiful women.

The play's story and the real case are not identical but the play's title and main character will make the audience naturally associate the two, Mas Tom in the play and Tommy's case in the real world.

"In adapting the script, I tried to make it more Indonesian," Heru said. "And, of course, I have also adjusted the original script to Gandrik's characters and actors who are accustomed to acting on stage."

In the play, music composer Djaduk Ferianto exercises his talent in directing, along with Jujuk Prabowo.

Djaduk says he puts a cinematographic touch to the stage of Mas Tom. In other words, he said, the play will be presented in a contemporary drama style with minimum dialogue.

The cinematographic touch, he said, is also taken to the stage to adjust most of Teater Gandrik's personnel who have been involved in several TV mini-series and movies in the past three or four years.

Heru Kesawa Murti and Susilo Nugroho, for example, have played in state-owned television TVRI Yogyakarta's program Mbangun Desa (Developing Village). Meanwhile, Djaduk and his older brother Butet Kertaradjasa played in the recent children's movie Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure).

And, almost all of Gandrik's personnel are involved in 13 episodes of TV series Badut Pasti Berlalu (The Clown Will be Over) which is scheduled to be aired by private TV station Indosiar this month.

Will Mas Tom prove it is still capable of a "killing while laughing" style of theater as renowned playwright Putu Wijaya once put it? Well, you will get your own answers if you witness the play.