Koma returns with `Opera Kecoa'

Koma returns with `Opera Kecoa'

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The atmosphere that night was one of anticipation, as a full
house awaited the second performance of the 1985 production,
Opera Kecoa (Cockroach Opera), Teater Koma's play that was banned
in 1990.

They were not disappointed. Opera Kecoa was everything that
can be expected from Teater Koma, a theater group born in 1977 in
the midst of Soeharto's authoritarian rule. It was satirical,
critical of the government, and, in parts, bitter.

What was disconcerting, though, was the fact that even after
18 years, Opera Kecoa is still as relevant as ever.

"I think that Opera Kecoa has now become even sharper and more
sarcastic, because we haven't budged from where we were before.
The present day is even worse than 1985," Nano Riantiarno,
creator and director of the play, commented.

As the title suggests, the play is about the lives of
Jakarta's lowest of the low -- those who are constantly pushed
aside but keeps coming back, in short, the cockroaches of
society.

Below bridges under the garbage of the city they live -- the
rubbish collectors, prostitutes, hoodlums, ladyboys and
transvestites -- in makeshift huts made from driftwood and
corrugated metal plates. It is at a site such as this that Opera
Kecoa opens.

Two men are seen sleeping on stage, oblivious to the din
raised by the audience settling in their seats and wondering
aloud why the people on stage have not moved.

The music starts playing. Inhabitants of the slum squirm awake
and begin crawling, cockroach-like, over the set and stage.
Suddenly the whirling blades of a helicopter break the pattern
and the "cockroaches" crawl, helter-skelter, for cover, away from
the chopper's searchlights.

The stage empties, except for the two sleeping men. The sun
rises over the slum, and the first man awakens.

The audience is introduced to Julini (wonderfully played by
Salim Bungsu), one of the sleeping men and a hyperactive,
optimistic, ladyboy as he puts on a plaited wig and yellow dress,
and tries to wake up his boyfriend Roima (played by Idries
Pulungan).

Opera Kecoa centers on the lives of these two unlikely
characters, as they struggle to make a living in the big city and
their interactions with the people in the slum.

Coming straight from their village, at first the two are met
with suspicion from the city slum dwellers, particularly by madam
Tarsih (Ratna Riantiarno) who runs a brothel there.

But soon the two are engrossed in their work, Roima allying
himself with the "Tut Wuri Hanjegali" ("obstructing from behind",
transposed from the Indonesian education motto, tut wuri
handayani, meaning "supporting from behind") hoodlums, while
Julini is prostituting himself to men looking for some wild-side
excitement.

Raunchy all the way, Julini says "men nowadays like men
better ... (they're) bored with women," boasting that his
customers often ejaculated just by looking at him.

On the other side of the slums, a Soeharto-sound-alike
official (played by Butet Kertarejasa) satisfies his lusty
appetite with one of Tarsih's more popular girls, Tuminah (Ria
Irawan), in between golfing with Japanese donors.

Roima's busy work takes him away from Julini, while his
feeling of indebtedness pulls him closer to Tuminah, who has
introduced him to hoodlum chief, Kumis (O'han Adiputra). Julini
gets wind of the affair and demands a "divorce".

While successfully reworking old themes of social injustice
and corrupt officialdom, Teater Koma mixes with it basic human
instincts of survival, love and lust.

With no subtleties in this production, Teater Koma presents
the facts exactly as they are. A warning on the production flyers
that the play is for those "above 17 years old" is apt, as the
adult content and language are unsuitable for children.

"We are warning parents, but if they still decide to bring
their children along, it is their choice," Ratna, who also acts
as production head, said.

Opera Kecoa is Teater Koma's 100th production. The last
performance of this opera in 1985 featured noted Indonesian
theatrist, the late Tuti Indra Malaon (as Tarsih) and Didi Petet
(as the corrupt official).

Opera Kecoa will run until July 19, 2003, at Gedung Kesenian
Jakarta, Jl. Gedung Kesenian 1, Central Jakarta, at 8 p.m.
Tickets cost Rp 75,000, Rp 50,000, and Rp 30,000. For more
information please call Teater Koma 021-7350460, 7359540,
5251066, 5224058, or Gedung Kesenian Jakarta 021-3808283.