Play on Marsinah banned in Bandung

Play on Marsinah banned in Bandung

BANDUNG (JP): Playwright Ratna Sarumpaet condemned the police
banning of a play about the life of slain labor activist Marsinah
shortly before it was about to be staged here Saturday.

It was the second time in two weeks that the monologue play
had been banned. The play was first banned on Nov. 26 in
Surabaya, just before it was to begin.

"This ban is really a picture of how hard we all still have to
work to convey the truth," she said. "Only last week the play was
banned in Surabaya, and now it has been banned again. I am sad."

Police said Ratna did not have a permit to stage the play, and
told a gathering prospective audience outside of the French
Cultural Center in Bandung, to disperse. The ban was overseen by
intelligence officer Lt. Col. Herman of the Bandung police
headquarters.

West Java Police spokesman Lt. Col. Istanto Judihardjo told
The Jakarta Post yesterday that it is the authority of the
intelligence and security section of the regional police to issue
permits for the staging of performances.

If the audience of a certain performance comes from the
jurisdiction of various regional police, than it would be the
authority of an even higher police officer to issue the permit,
he said.

Istanto denied any knowledge of the ban, and promised to seek
information from the Bandung Police Chief Col. Erwin Mappaseng.
He also promised to issue an official statement on the ban today.

Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah Accuses), a monologue play, is a
tribute to the activist -- who was murdered in East Java in 1993
-- by playwright and actress Ratna Sarumpaet and her Satu Merah
Panggung theater group.

Before the ban in Surabaya, the play had already been
performed in seven cities, albeit under tight police security.

Ratna's first performance of the play was in September 1994.
It is based on the then unpublished manuscript of a book called
Marsinah, Nyanyian dari Bawah Tanah (Songs from the Underworld).

Marsinah was found dead after organizing a workers' strike at
PT Catur Putra Surya, a watch manufacturer in Sidoarjo, East
Java.

Her badly mutilated body was found on May 9, 1993, in an
abandoned shack near Nganjuk in East Java. (43)