'Ketoprak Humor' sets the stage for laughs on television screens
'Ketoprak Humor' sets the stage for laughs on television screens
JAKARTA (JP): "She" sashays across the stage, making pointed over-the-shoulder glances, a simpering femme fatale from tales of old.
There are plenty of hoots and whistles, derision for the woman's coy smile and smeared-on lipstick. It is none other than Tessie, the gender-bending star of Ketoprak Humor (RCTI, 9:30 p.m., Saturdays). Neither Arthur nor Martha, Tessie's androgyny allows him to skirt the comic line between bawdy humor and vulgarity.
Drawing on Javanese tales and myths, the shows are the traditional vaudevillian theater of srimulat brought to the modern medium of television. They weave comic storylines which marry tradition with the world of Indonesia today, including the ups-and-downs in the lives of the performers from the Samiaji Arts Association Foundation.
Last week's show told of a husband (Topan) bickering with his wife (Meisye Arsita) about her inadequacies on the household front. She attempts to placate him by giving him something to eat, but he sets the food down behind him because it is too hot. A passing scoundrel (Lysus) replaces it with a brick, much to the husband's consternation, and the husband and wife trade insults in a verbal ping-pong match.
She makes another attempt to win him over by handing him a cup of coffee. Once again, he puts the offering behind him but he starts to suspect that someone may be playing tricks on him. With much ado, he places a mirror in front of him so he can see what is going on behind.
Celebrity gossip-savvy viewers know the underlying poignancy of one of the exchanges between the husband and wife. When Topan tells Meisye that he would never leave her despite her deficiencies, it cuts close to the bone; Meisye's real-life husband dumped her for another woman.
The show features the group's mainstays -- Tarzan, Nunung, Polo, Timbul, Eko, Yohana, Tessie, Topan and Lysus -- and each has his or her specific stage characteristics.
Tarzan's height and baritone voice lend themselves equally well to playing a Dutch commander of old or a Javanese king. Pouting, put-upon Nunung has the repartee and comebacks to spar with the best of them. Timbul is the group's Puck, an impish figure stirring the pot of mischief and innuendo. And then there is Tessie, taking the rain of abuse and indignities with long- suffering resignation.
The established team has been rounded out by the guest appearances of stars from Indonesian soap operas. They include Maudy Koesnadi, Dedy Yusuf, Donny Kusuma (the actor-model best known for the Extra Joss commercials), Anjasmara and his wife, Dian Nitami and even magician Deddy Corbuzier.
Some of the new crop of stars can go with the flow of the improvised storylines, but others fumble their way through their appearances.
"For srimulat, the actors need to be able to play off each other for the show to work," said Mulki, a chicken vendor and a fan of the program. "Some of the stars can do it, like Dian Nitami, and she is not even Javanese, but others are just there for the exposure. I mean, what is Deddy Corbuzier doing on the show? He's awful."
Since its debut in 1998, Ketoprak Humor has gained a wide following (the frequent commercial breaks is an obvious, and irritating, sign of this success). The actors, too, have become household names, but now are making headlines for less desirable reasons following the arrest of Doyok and Polo on drug charges.
A grounding in Indonesian is necessary for foreign viewers if they want to follow the storylines, but it also helps to have along a citizen of this land, particularly someone from Java, to help explain the nuances of the various high jinks. When the action heats up, the actors frequently slip into their native Javanese; while the Indonesian-language subtitles are a help, it's much better to have the tale explained by someone in the know.