Ghandi school stages a piece of 'epic theater'

Ghandi school stages a piece of 'epic theater'

Mario Koch, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Man and technology, technology and man -- this highly strained
relationship is at the core of The Mobile Grave.

Grade ten students of Gandhi Memorial International School,
Kemayoran, North Jakarta, undertook a true challenge in staging
Nigerian playwright Fred Kayondo's work in the school's
auditorium on Friday.

The central theme of the play is portrayed in a series of
episodic scenes that deal with two deadly road accidents that
occur on the same spot, on the same day.

In the first, the drunken fiance of Miss Indonesia, deeply
frustrated by her popularity in contrast to his own perceived
insignificance, steers their car into a pedestrian. The latter,
earlier ironically honored as "the republic's most careful
driver", as well as the beauty queen, are left dead.

A little later the speeding car of populist leader Mr. Mop,
who is rushing from one function to the other, and an overloaded
school bus, collide. This second accident leads to the deaths of
both the popular figure and a young boy.

Members of the public react in outcry to the events. They
stage demonstrations against ruthless driving and demand action
from the government, repeatedly clashing with the police.

In the subsequent, centrally important scene, two women are
forced to carry home their purchases from the market on foot due
to protesters blocking the roads.

In a deliberately exaggerated dialog, one of them calls the
demonstrators hooligans disrupting people's lives, whereas the
other praises them as "messiahs" speaking out for their values.

Relocated from an African town to Jakarta and adapted to suit
an Indonesian context, director Francis and the amateur actors
presented The Mobile Grave as a fine example of "epic theater".

Typical for this genre, which is largely associated with the
works of German writer Bertolt Brecht, is the renunciation of a
lavish stage set and the narrative way the story is told.

Its context is set by a class of schoolchildren on an outing,
who are told by their teachers the meaning of a memorial that
depicts the dead in the accident, and a broken steering wheel.

By means of such alienation, epic theater, in contrast to
"dramatic theater", seeks to place the spectator opposite the
plot. Thus, its intention is not to draw him into the event, but
to make him a critical observer, providing him with knowledge and
demanding a personal reaction from him.

Director Francis, who in India wrote his PhD thesis on
Brecht's works, told The Jakarta Post: "Epic theater means
communicating directly with people. That is how theater as a
whole becomes relevant."

Spectators are forced not to just accept what they are
observing as being the natural cause of events, but to think of
alternatives to the protagonists' actions.

Following a famous quote by Karl Marx, Brecht said,"The (epic)
theater became an affair for philosophers, but only for such
philosophers as wished not just to explain the world, but also to
change it. So we had philosophy and we had instruction ..."

Unfortunately, directly following Friday's performance there
was a lengthy introduction of every single contributor to the
evening.

Even if they deserved the attention, the instructive element
of The Mobile Grave should have been given an opportunity to
unfold in the minds of the audience.

After all, that is what epic theater is all about.