Guess What? Butet Kartaredjasa

Guess What? Butet Kartaredjasa

His rare talent of impersonating major public figures does not
make Butet Kartaredjasa, dubbed the king of monologue, happy. And
through his upcoming monologue, Mayat Terhormat (Respected
Corpse) he's trying to prove his theatrical talent.

"In this monologue, I'll try to test my ability in translating
the character I should play. It seems like so far, people have
'punished' me by thinking of me simply as a person who
impersonates political figures," said Bambang Ekolojo Butet
Kartaredjasa, who was presented with an arts award from
Yogyakarta's provincial administration in late February.

Up to now, his favorite victims have been former presidents
Soeharto and B.J. Habibie, former attorney general Andi M. Ghalib
and former House of Representatives speaker Harmoko.

The Mayat Terhormat monologue, the work of Agus Noor and Indra
Tranggono, will be staged at the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center
for three consecutive nights from March 27 and then in Yogyakarta
from April 7 to 8.

Trying to wipe out the image as an impersonator of major
political figures, 39-year-old Butet simply can't stop using
political issues as a source of inspiration.

The monologue features the caretaker of a public cemetery,
Siwi, who finds corpses, victims of violence, thrown into his
cemetery and becomes deeply curious when he finds more each day.

Butet explained the idea behind the story was to pay respect
to those who had died because of differences either in their
color, religion or language.

"Imagine it yourself, all those differences caused deaths.
Isn't it a human tragedy?" he said without elaborating which
cases had inspired him. (ste)