'Opera Diponegoro', an attempt to revitalize waning patriotism
Kartika Bagus C., The Jakarta Post, Surakarta
History has not completely laid bare each and every aspect of the struggle against the Dutch colonial powers in Java from 1825 to 1830, known as "The War of Diponegoro".
This period was filled with romantic as well as poignant moments of Prince Diponegoro's early victories and final tragic defeat at the hands of the Dutch colonialists.
The unique personality of Yogyakarta's Prince Diponegoro during those years, to his arrest in front of the Magelang regent's office in 1830, is vividly portrayed by the renowned choreographer, Sardono W. Kusumo, in his work titled Opera Diponegoro
Diponegoro enjoyed great support from the people in the five- year war that claimed a huge number of lives on both sides. The war forced the Dutch colonial administration to review its policies.
Sardono said that his opera focused not only on the prince's private life but also depicted the social and cultural aspects of the period.
"I have tried to interpret, stage the scenes and use the dialogs as closely as possible to the available documented historical materials, such as chronicles, personal diaries, paintings, newspaper reports and records of Diponegoro's arrest," Sardono explained.
His main source is the 800-page Yogyakarta version of Diponegoro Chronicles. This manuscript is an autobiography of Prince Diponegoro written during his nine-month exile (Nov. 13, 1831 to Feb. 3, 1832) in Manado, North Sulawesi.
For the social and cultural nuances, the Surakarta Palace Chronicles have been used as a supporting reference. The choreographer also mentioned that the legendary painting by Raden Saleh of the arrest of Diponegoro was a source of visual inspiration to enhance his opera.
Based on wayang (traditional Javanese performance on Hindu epics) and ketoprak (Javanese traditional opera), Diponegoro has a cast of 50, including dancers and musicians.
Although this two-hour opera has been staged four times before, the presentation by the Center for Cultural Studies and Social Changes at Muhammadiyah University, Surakarta, will now include elements that are relevant to the current situation.
Sardono said the performance aimed to help improve the image of Surakarta, now rumored to be a base for international terrorists. He is also concerned by the stigma attached to Surakarta as a city of "unrest and terror" due to the frequent violence that seems to have occurred there.
"If anything were to happen, Surakarta could turn into a killing field. This is a major problem for all of us. At least from a cultural point of view, which I can rightly represent, I think it is very negative. That's why I mean my opera to revive our spirit of patriotism and nationalism," he said.
Another important element, representing one of the most essential cultural aspects of Surakarta, is the appearance of a reporter or, to be more precise, a war reporter in the drama. The Surakarta Palace version of Diponegoro chronicles was written when the Diponegoro rebellion was taking place.
"This meticulously written chronicle, with accurate data, only further proves the necessity for a war reporter, whose job was to record every detail of the events that occurred," Sardono asserted.
Opera Diponegoro will run from March 1 until March 5 at the auditorium of RRI (state radio broadcasting station) at Jl. Abdulrahman Saleh 51, Surakarta. For more information and ticketing call Heru Prasetyo at 081-6675808.