'Pesta Terakhir' unravels the ugly side of human nature
'Pesta Terakhir' unravels the ugly side of human nature
By Oei Eng Goan
JAKARTA (JP): Ratna Sarumpaet's latest play Pesta Terakhir
(The Last Rites) depicts a tragedy that befalls a self-assertive
woman, Haryati, who, having the illusion that her father was a
respectable man, plans to administer the last rites to the old
man.
To her surprise and despondency, however, no one comes to pay
their respects even though the deceased has been lain in state
for five days. Worse still, no one shares her anguish, not even
Duha, her husband the general. Duha even persuades her into
admitting that her father was actually a covetous businessman who
pretended to be a sociable person and a champion of the poor.
Duha's indifference to her plight and the absence of mourners
in her house awaken Haryati to the ugly part of human nature:
greed, hypocrisy, and ingratitude.
Confronted with such a situation, Haryati then hits out at the
unjust system of a society already corrupted by material wealth
and power. She thus attacks the community where she lives in
which has blinded its members to the good moral values that human
beings ought to adopt and undertake.
Dissipation gives birth to arbitrary acts of the authorities
who do not hesitate to trample the rights of the poor and the
marginalized people under the pretext of national interest and
development. This view is clearly expressed in chorus by a dozen
ghosts who come to fetch the soul of Haryati's father.
"With naked eyes we witness how people are being deprived of
their rights. Right under our noses, human freedom has been
infringed upon ... and rifle butts have gone on the rampage,
claiming the lives of (innocent) people" thus protest the ghosts
against officials' call to move out from their graves which will
be converted into a new project.
The plot of Pesta Terakhir, which Ratna stars in and directs
herself, is simple. So is the presentation of the 90-minute drama
with the stage sparsely furnished only with a couple of chairs
and a bamboo stretcher commonly used to carry a corpse for a
Moslem burial.
The setting, movements and positioning of the players take the
style of a Greek tragedy. The presence of a chorus, represented
by players who wear masks and play the role of ghosts, to add
details to the story development and the infusion of Sophoclean
irony are other examples of how the basic elements of
conventional drama are faithfully adhered to.
The play is produced by Satu Merah Panggung theatrical group,
artistic works for decor and lighting are done by a group of
artists that include up-and-coming choreographer Boi G. Sakti and
stage experts Roejito while music accompaniment by Sugeng
Pratikno.
The strong point of Pesta Terakhir is more on the dialog
than it is in the acting. Not all the actors play their roles
well except the portrayals of Haryati (played by Ratna
Sarumpaet), the faithful dog Domky (Joel Taher) and the ghosts
are truly up to the audience's expectation.
In fact, what makes the drama interesting is the message
underlying the play, performed at Taman Ismail Marzuki's Graha
Bhakti Budaya until tomorrow evening. The message, or rather the
outcry of the underprivileged, is of the widening gap between the
rich and the poor due to unequal distribution of wealth and
unfair practice of monopoly.
Besides, a short but clear reference to the need for human
beings to respond to a muezzin or a chime's call to prayer
encapsulates the playwright's ideas on the importance of
religious harmony in Indonesia, which over the past few months
has been hit by sporadic ethnic riots and dissension during which
a number of Christian and Buddhist houses of worships were burned
down.
This alone makes Pesta Terakhir a worth-seeing play.