`Musang' a lesson for would-be Don Juans

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

A comedy by playwright Jose Rizal Manua, Musang Berjanggut (The Bearded Civet) presenting popular actress Tamara Blezynski as leading cast will help brighten up the year with its performance at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta on Dec. 27-28.

A folktale, Musang Berjanggut is not only popular in its native land, Tanah Deli, North Sumatra but even in Java. And for the play, Jose adapted it from a version by Djamalul Abidin Ass, a 1960s literary figure, and used Melayu pantun or traditional poetry.

The Javaness actress who studied in Australia and now lives in Jakarta, Tamara earlier could not understand the meaning of poetry. But she said that with the help of her Acehnese husband and the West Sumatra native Jose, who both understand the Melayu language, she finally got it. And Jose is confident Jakartans will also understand and enjoy the play.

The play centers on a king and his elite friends who fall in love with Commander Cik Awang's wife, beautiful Syarifah. And to get rid of her husband, the king orders the commander to find a bearded civet or it's off with his head.

Realizing that it could be a trick -- there is no such thing as a bearded civet, Syarifah, with the help of her loyal helper Kolot, invites each of the men in the clique who are trying to trick her husband to her house -- individually, including the king. Each, of course, believes he is the only one she wants to have relations with, and thinks they will be alone together. In the end, as each guest arrives, the ones preceding them end up having to hide to save face.

The first guest, the bearded Datuk Hakim, has to hide in big chest, while Datuk Tumenggung has to turn himself into a "statue" and Datuk Bendahara hides under the bed. The king himself becomes a horse, walking around while Syarifah whips him hard.

The next day, the king returns to Syarifah's house, this time to ask for the bearded civet from Cik Awang. The visitors are then taken to see the civet themselves, inside the chest. The guests are surprised to find the civet is Datuk Hakim, who, from the chest, exposes what happened the other night, including the time when the king acted like a horse.

The end of this 75-minute play, as expected, is hilarious, and for the two-day performance, Jose recruited actors, musicians and crew from outside Teater Tanah Air.

In the comedy, Tamara plays Syarifah, while Derry Drajat portrays Cik Awang, Soultan Saladin plays the king, Fuad Idris is Kolok and Jose, apart from directing, also plays Datuk Bendahara himself. The costumes for the play are prepared by Samuel Watimena, the music is by Cilay, the make-up is coordinated by Abul Syajallah and artistic direction by Hardiman Radjab.

Jose, a theater graduate who now teaches at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), was born in Padang on Sept. 14, 1954. Starting his career in theater in 1970, he joined Rendra's Bengkel Teater, Putu Wijaya's Teater Mandiri and Remy Sylado's Dapur Teater. He is also known as a poet and an actor.

As director and theater worker, he made his name through a Balinese-style rendition of Hamlet, which was staged for four hours at the Youth Theater Festival in 1982-83 at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) arts center, Central Jakarta. Up to now, he has directed many plays like Perkawinan (Wedding), Sept. 28-29 this year at TIM.

Musang Bejanggut itself, according to Jose, has been bought by RCTI for Rp 200 million and will be aired on Jan. 1, 2003. With the money, he is planning for the next production, Cleopatra, which is expected to be on stage by April next year, most likely with Tamara playing the lead role.

Musang Berjanggut (The Bearded Civet); Gedung Kesenian Jakarta; Jl. Gedung Kesenian No. 1, Central Jakarta; Running from Dec. 27-28, at 8 p.m.; Tickets are Rp 75,000 and Rp 50,000; For information tel: 021-380-8283