JP/11/KOMA

Teater Koma play at UKDW Yogyakarta, Mesmerizing Though Lacking in Zest

By Ahmad Solikhan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Theatrical troupe Teater Koma (Comma Theater) mesmerized the audience back in 1993 when they performed Rumah Sakit Jiwa (Mental Hospital) in the Purnabudaya Yogyakarta building. This year, it has returned to Yogyakarta as one leg in its tour of 12 cities in Java, performing on a two-tier stage which was originally a trailer. The ornamental clouds, inspired by the Cirebon style, were simple, as were the pieces of bamboo bound together with ropes made of sugar palm fibers to support the head of Kala (Time).

Kala (time or era), N Riantiarno's latest play, was performed on June 23, 2001 at Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDP) and became a special attraction during the 13th Yogyakarta Arts Festival. Mostly made up of university students, the audience, sitting in a crowd in the yard of the campus, began to lose their patience when, at 7:30 p.m., the original time set for the performance, there was still no sign of the play starting. They clapped their hands and shouted yells as an expression of their impatience for close on an hour and a half.

In response, the actors and actresses, who had not finished putting on their make-up, finally came on stage. The lights went out. The sound of a large drum being beaten energetically accompanied the appearance of the occupants of heaven, the abode of the Hindu Gods: Batara Guru, Batara Narada, Semar or Badranaya, Togog and Gareng. As something seemed to be going wrong, they had sent Batara Narada to earth.

Then six persons wearing black headgear staged a ritual procession, walking round the open space in front of the stage, each carrying a small crucible containing burning incense. They prayed that they would be kept safe from the disaster all around. The aroma of the incense affected the audience as if hypnotizing them, increasing their understanding and enjoyment of the play's opening.

This serious scene was suddenly disturbed when baby Kala, the reincarnation of Batara Guru, with his placenta still attached, cried out in hunger. The mother, Batari Durga, was at her wit's end to see the baby always hungry. She was worried that Kala would grow big. Even at seven months old, Kala was already as big as a real mountain. Always starving, he would greedily eat anything that he could lay his hand on.

Exasperated, Batari Durga had Kala isolated behind the steel bars of a prison, but to no avail. Kala could break through with his two fangs. Batara Narada, the spy from the heavenly abode of the Gods and Goddesses, finally decided to take Kala to his father to have him tried because his deeds were dangerous for human beings.

In the final act of the play, Kala, with his placenta still attached, listened to the decision made by his father so as to resolve the problem. Batara Guru agreed that he would continue to be the father of Kala on condition that Kala would obey his instructions. Kala was to be allowed to eat anything that human beings ate to his heart's content. He could even eat time.

In Javanese belief, when a family has only one son or has five sons, they must conduct a special rite to ward off evil by having a shadow-puppet master perform the story of Batara Kala to ensure that disaster will be warded off and that nobody in the family will fall victim to Batara Kala.

As Riantiarno's comic play was laden with satires on the present condition of our nation, Kala was easily digested by the audience. The idea for the play came originally from a classical shadow play so that the performance resembled a Javanese stage show. The audience was pampered with the colors usually associated with shadow play costumes. The traditional Javanese songs accompanying the performance, however, were modified to adapt them to present conditions.

In terms of their portrayal of the present situation, Teater Koma was less daring than the Bandung-based Kelompok Payung Hitam (Black Umbrella Theatrical Troupe), which performed in Solo a few years ago and in Utan Kayu, Jakarta on January 14, 1998. In the play titled Kaspar, the director, Rahman Sabur, dwelled on the difficulty that someone had when identifying himself in the world. Throughout the performance, a recorded BBC interview with Amien Rais prior to the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly could be heard indistinctly.

Kala,Teater Koma's 95th production, was similar to Opera Ikan Asin (Salt Fish Opera) staged in the Graha Bakti Budaya, TIM, Jakarta on April 10-25, 1999, in that both portrayed a real situation. Opera Ikan Asin, adapted from Bertold Brecht of Germany's play titled Dreigroschenoper, or "Threepenny Opera" in English, dwells on a conspiracy between Mekhit or Mat Piso and police commissioner Kartamarma. Mat Piso's stooge was as slippery as an eel and could always get out of any difficulties thanks to his skill in lobbying insiders. This adapted play is entirely Riantiarno's as the songs were fully adapted to the situation in Batavia -- the name of Jakarta during the Dutch colonial era -- in the early 1920s.

Established 24 years ago, Teater Koma is still often regarded as a theatrical group performing plays suitable for an audience made up of "middle class" people and upwards. This is a wrong assumption, according to Riantiarno, who believes that the performances of his theatrical group can be enjoyed by people of all social strata, as the troupe's traveling performances in 12 cities is intended to show. Teater Koma, said Riantiarno, is bent on establishing direct communication with the public through theatrical performances in order to get the present social conditions across to the community. "If anybody says that our performances are intended only for the middle classes and upwards, then they are not critics," said Riantiarno, a graduate of the Indonesian Theatrical Academy, with some cynicism.

He said that the traveling performances would take place over about 20 days, between June 12 and July 1, 2001, and the cities visited would include Jakarta, Surabaya, Malang, Kudus, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Purwokerto, Tegal, Cirebon and Bandung.

If they are successful with these traveling performances, Teater Koma will perform at the subdistrict level to be better able to get along and directly communicate with the community. "Ideally, a play should not be performed only on campus or an arts auditorium, places inaccessible by people living far away from the cities," said Riantiarno, whose birthplace is Cirebon.

To return to the performance of Kala in Yogyakarta, the criticisms that Teater Koma levies at current social conditions were taken in their stride by the Yogyakarta people despite the smooth flow of the story. As the audience was made up mostly of students hailing from different provinces across the country, and always critically aware of the existence of the nation, this performance by Teater Koma, which could be considered a manifestation of contemporary art, was readily understandable.**