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.