'Impian Nyangun' teaches kids preserve nature

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Nyangun doesn't want much. All the boy wants to do is dance with Berry, a jovial bear who resides in a nearby forest. Basically he wants to be friends with all the forest's inhabitants. However, it turns out to be quite a struggle for him to get his wish.

That is the premise of Impian Nyangun (Nyangun's Dream), a play performed by Legenda Art Studio, a children's theater group, last Sunday, at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center (TIM). The play, to be televised by TVRI as an anniversary program, is basically a 90-minute show consisting of several song-and-dance numbers with actors wearing various colorful animal costumes, and a story containing the subtle message about preserving the environment, all packaged in a production geared for the primary school crowd.

But here's a reason why it deserves attention: Impian Nyangun is a stage play especially tailored for kids that does not talk down to kids. That's a rarity in Indonesia, where characters of children's plays usually preach right out to the audience: don't cut class, listen to your parents, don't torture animals, etc.

Nyangun instead blends the love-thy-forest agenda smoothly in the story about a little boy who yearns to belong. He may have the inane desire to dance with a boisterous bear, but hey, at least the bear doesn't turn out to be a ranger named Smokey who intimidates anyone who dares go into the forest with a matchbox.

Here's another reason why it is not just your usual kids' variety show: Impian Nyangun is part of a program of four children's plays performed on two consecutive weekends to commemorate National Children's Day on July 23. All four plays deal with children and forest preservation.

Buto Ijo (The Giant), to be staged on Aug. 8, is about a group of village children helping a forest-dwelling giant pull out a bad tooth. The other two plays, to be performed on Saturday and Sunday respectively, are Tarzan and I'm Just a Forest.

"All this time, forests seem to have a fearsome image for kids," said Anto Suhartono, 35, one of the program's organizers, who also directed Impian Nyangun. "We are trying to dispel that image, by having the forest possess something exciting and wonderful in Nyangun. In Buto Ijo, there's a giant who is feared by kids who later find out that he is actually a kind giant. With these stories we want to assert the main theme of how forests should be protected."

Suhartono is certainly not alone in this project. Amid the festivity named The Legend of Indonesian Children, comprising the four plays, a bazaar and an outdoor stage for music groups, which is held throughout the week, there is a stand belonging to the forestry ministry. There kids look at displays of various environmental issues and are treated with screenings of 16mm documentaries on Komodo dragons and cenderawasih (birds of paradise).

"We'd like to make the children understand as much as possible about forests," said Daniel Triyono, a public relations official from the ministry, who oversees the exhibitions. "We try to convey that forests are not as scary as they think, that their everyday life is actually closely connected to forests. Just think of pencils and paper, which all come from the forest."

The idea of a forest-themed children's program is probably something new to Suhartono and his company. But this is actually the third time they came up with a string of theater shows for kids, embellished with all sorts of merriment, like karaoke contests, "just to attract more crowds", Suhartono said.

But the emphasis has always been on the plays. This time around, Suhartono is collaborating with fellow theater artists who lead children's theater groups. They all write and direct each of their plays and then assemble them together to make up the program. Suhartono himself is recruited by Legenda Art Studio, a newly reestablished children's theater group, which consists of children of employees of TVRI. Suhartono was to train the kids and direct them in a particular show. He came up with the idea for Nyangun, and worked together with Nana Marzis, 38, Legenda's coordinator.

"Anto is a man who loves and understands children," said Marzis. "He is actually a lawyer who works especially on children advocacy causes, and he has a long experience working in theater, being a former member of a children's theater group himself. He is just the right guy for the job."

And what a feat they performed. Preparing the production for only one-and-a-half months, directing children who are mostly first-timers. And they came up with a show that ran smoothly and seamlessly with kids who are apparently natural performers.

One of them is 11-year-old Ray Frederich Tarigan, who personifies Nyangun on stage. The little guy confesses to having no acting or theatrical aspirations, and would have joined a soccer club instead if his father hadn't plunged him into Legenda. But he finds the experience a lot of fun, amazing fellow performers and trainers by swallowing loads of dialog and effortlessly acting it out on stage.

"It's a good way to teach the kids about the environment," said Maria Tarigan, Ray's mother. And showing her disdain for her son's soccer ambitions, she said "at least here Ray doesn't run the risk of having a broken leg."