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)