JP/3/PUSPA

JP/3/PUSPA

Teater Keliling strives for recognition in Jakarta

By Yusuf Susilo Hartono

JAKARTA (JP): Luck hasn't smiled yet on Teater Keliling
(Mobile theater), Jakarta's seasoned mobile theater group.
Despite its popularity in the provinces and abroad, in its
birthplace it tends to be sidelined and overlooked.

When the National Gallery recently held a JakArt@2001 theater
costume display to mark Jakarta's anniversary, for instance, it
wasn't invited. Nor was it included when the Jakarta Arts Council
published its theater book several years back.

"We're just brushed aside and forgotten," said stage director
Rudolf Puspa, one of the troupe's founders, in a trembling voice
and tearful eyes. "We do exist and have been performing for 27
years, in fact. We're recognized overseas, and known in most
regions across the country. So why does Jakarta fail to
acknowledge us?", he queried in a bitter and emotional tone.

Based in Taman Modern, Cakung, East Jakarta, Teater Keliling
has joined various international arts and drama festivals and
performances, in Perth-Australia (1979), Singapore (1981),
Romania (1994), Cairo (1994, 1996), Lahore-Pakistan (1996),
Bangkok (1997) and South Korea (1997).

The emotional mood prevailed, reflected in mixed feelings --
optimism when reminiscing about brilliant performances in the
regions and abroad, disappointment when speaking of the vain
attempt to win over Jakarta audiences -- as the Solo-born
Javanese artist talked with The Jakarta Post following his
group's show, Badak-badak (Rhinos), at the Jakarta Playhouse.

The play, with two performances, was the theater's 1,225th
performance since its founding in Jakarta on Feb. 13, 1974.
Quantitatively, Teater Keliling scores the highest record in
number of performances. In the latest show, it cooperated with a
nonprofit organization, Asia Works Jakarta. It was a full house
with a seating capacity of 450 on the first day, with only around
25 percent of seats filled on the second.

His wife, Dery Syrna, a Jakarta-born woman of West and South
Sumatran descent, as theater manager, shared the feelings of
Rudolf Puspa or Rudi. Dery, an architecture graduate of Jakarta's
Trisakti University, along with Rudi, has never given up. They
and their troupe strive to capture an audience in Jakarta, amid
the increasingly tougher life due to misdirected reforms, soaring
prices and growing necessity of taking side jobs to support their
theater.

To prevail among Jakarta's theater-goers has become their
ultimate obsession, in the present and future. Therefore, they
are considering various suggestions, such as the idea of staging
mobile plays at malls, plazas, schools and universities with
appealing stories. By "introducing" Teater Keliling to Jakartans,
they hope to at least turn local drama fans into a loyal
audience, before staging major shows at the city's prestigious
playhouses.

Rudi, is also aware of the need to put the management in
order. Poor management is the general shortcoming of theatrical
troupes in Indonesia with Teater Koma being the only exception,
perhaps.

Had its management been better, Teater Keliling may have got a
place in the book about theater published by the Jakarta Arts
Council or been invited to take part in the exhibition on
theatrical costumes held at the National Gallery.

In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of Teater Keliling,
Rudi has also been advised to prepare grand and memorable events,
for example the issuance of a book 30 Years of Teater Keliling,
an exhibition of posters, clippings and costumes related to its
performances.

Everybody that was once involved in Teater Keliling as well as
its fans must be invited to participate in these anniversary
activities. With the publication of the book, for example, Teater
Keliling will always be remembered among theater buffs.

Question: Teater Keliling was set up three years earlier than
Teater Koma but why does it seem to have been forgotten in
Jakarta?

Answer: This may be attributable to our own practice of using
a local organizing committee each time we perform in the regions.
We only come and perform and don't bother about how to attract
people to attend our performances. When we performed abroad, the
audience was already waiting for us to perform. In short, we have
never attempted to invite an audience.

In 1997 we decided to perform at the Jakarta Arts House and
had to take care of everything related to our performance. We
usually establish cooperation with one institution and every time
we would have a new audience, which is one of the reasons why,
until now, we have not been able to foster our own loyal
audience.

If we perform in the regions, the local media will give us
wide publicity but in Jakarta, unfortunately, we don't seem to
steal the attention of the mass media. We don't know what has
gone amiss.

Uki Bayu Sejati, a reporter and theatrical practitioner,
advised us to introduce ourselves to present-day reporters, who
are actually unaware of our activities, or even of our existence.
This situation, I believe, explains why the Jakarta community,
particularly the arts bureaucrats, are unaware of our existence.

Your strategy of taking control of the regions first before
Jakarta has failed. Why did you try this approach?

When Teater Keliling was set up some 27 years ago, I had lived
in Jakarta for only a short period. Before coming to Jakarta, I
was actively involved in theatrical activities in Solo. As there
were quite a lot of theatrical groups in Jakarta when Teater
Keliling was formed, we opted for mobile theatrical performances.

We are now the only modern theatrical group which has moved
from one place to another until now. Wherever we perform, we
usually receive a huge applause from ordinary locals as well as
local government officials.

It was really very touching, when, during our performance in
Sumatra recently, someone in the audience greeted us warmly
saying that he first saw our performance in Kalimantan. People in
the regions usually ask us to return quite often. In Aceh for
example, our fans have requested us to return there every
quarter.

Will you find it difficult to give your best performance at
the Jakarta Arts House with all its sophisticated equipment while
all these years you have performed on just any stage, often below
standard, in the regions?

I don't think so. Everywhere we go, we try to do our best.
When we performed Mega-mega (Clouds), a play by Arifin C. Noer,
in Malaysia, we enjoyed a standing ovation. This performance
introduced a new direction to Malaysia's modern drama. Well,
before we performed this play in Malaysia, we had performed it at
home over 200 times.

The play is our masterpiece. To tell you the truth, performing
in the region or in Jakarta is just the same to me. I can manage
both equally well.

As you have said, you have benefited considerably with your
mobile performances but then there is also a disadvantage as you
still cannot be popular among the people in Jakarta. In
connection with the New Order and the reform movement, what
experiences can you share with us?

When we were touring in the regions performing plays during
the New Order era, we saw a lot of examples of ignorance. Then
when Habibie became president, people in the regions hoped to
have children as smart as the president. In the present reform
era, everyone dares to speak up and criticize while street
rallies are commonplace.

What about the theatrical world?

Well, the theatrical world is just like the media, newspapers
or television. In such a situation, Teater Keliling tries to
stick to aesthetic values and to the principle that the theater
is a medium for cultural dialog. Of course, we do not set aside
the entertainment value of the theater.

While Western style freedom and democracy are given value in
Indonesia today, you perform "Rhinoceros", which is inspired by a
short story by Eugene Ionesco. What's your motivation?

I just want to say this: in the past everything used to be
uniform and regular, but now everything is free and democratic.
However, in both situations, the essence is the same. Everyone
forces their wishes upon others. They never take other people
into consideration.

So, take note of these words in the play: "I just know that I
am right and must be right." In the play these words are spoken
by a woman because today it is a woman that is being praised.
Yet, everything seems to be the same in every aspect of life. A
woman, a man or even the powers-that-be will reveal the same
thing when exposed: all are rhinos.