'Kaspar' a satire on current affairs
By Primastuti Handayani
JAKARTA (JP): Verbal language is commonly used to communicate, to convey a message and to criticize. But sometimes verbal language alone is not sufficiently effective and body language can express the message better.
That's why Rachman Sabur opted to explore more of the body language of his Teater Payung Hitam's members rather than using verbal communication in presenting Kaspar, an adaptation of Peter Handke's work, for the Third Art Summit Indonesia 2001 International Festival on Contemporary Performing Arts at the Graha Bakti Budaya Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta.
Rachman -- himself an actor, director, author and teacher -- prefers to highlight the social problems and issues affecting this country.
"Theater is the best way to make people learn about humanity," he said.
Through Kaspar, Rachman explores the chaotic situation in the country, notwithstanding the emergence of a new president.
Despite being performed several times in the cities of Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta, -- Rachman also held a workshop on Kaspar in Perth, Western Australia, in 1997 -- the story is still relevant to the conditions prevailing today.
The performance, taking place on Sept. 7 and again on Sept. 8, opens with a scene of Kaspar -- excellently performed by Tony Broer using great gymnastics skills -- hanging on iron climbing poles. Wearing skin-colored leggings and bald, Broer plays up the character of Kaspar, who is dumb and has a childish personality. He can only repeat the same syllables "sa... me... nja...", unable to express what he has in mind.
Then, six other players come on stage wearing the same costumes as Broer's, with each of them also being bald. Each of them then slide around on chairs using their four legs as wheels, creating noise with the collisions of chairs enriching the play's minimal sound.
Kaspar then learns to create noise from old cans as if wanting to perform a tap dance. He then learns to speak properly from a figure -- described as a ruler with his white face and sunglasses portrayed on the giant screen in the background -- telling him that he has found the way to speak. The risk is, however, that he will see more violence in his life.
"... You must learn to speak and think verbally. Don't speak with symbols or body language. Use verbal communication to follow the rules ...," the figure says.
Then Kaspar sees the injustice committed by the armed forces -- in the form of six players who appear wearing green helmets and green boots -- and who are trying to intimidate him. They walk around carrying their guns and point them at Kaspar, a symbol of the common people. One of the soldiers carries a wheelbarrow full of bombs. The bombs, as Kaspar reads, bear the legends: "TNI ... made in U.S.A."
A chaotic incident occurs when Kaspar shouts from every side of the stage "bomb ... bomb ... bomb ...." As a consequence, he is imprisoned and tortured. "When I was still out there ... I never faced this misery ...."
As if not enough to hint at the role of the TNI, Kaspar reads "Presidential decree vs. special session, and the winner is TNI," from red and white piece of papers. The satire is highlighted as the other six players wear jackets with different colors representing the political parties in the House of Representatives. But they are all wearing clown masks.
The play closes with a bomb explosion which leaves casualties hanging from the climbing poles against a background of flames. Kaspar can only say repeatedly: "I am a goat and monkey."
Rachman has directed 45 plays, including his latest Bersama Tengkorak (With Skeletons) which was brought to the stage this year, Bila Malam Bertambah Malam (When the night is getting late) by Putu Wijaya and Menunggu Godot (Waiting for Godot) by Samuel Beckett.
But Kaspar is his favorite, and also his best work according to critic Saini KM. However, the audience can judge the play for themselves. Will they go home concerned for the country's future after watching Kaspar?