Playwright Nano can make fun of Gus Dur, too

Playwright Nano can make fun of Gus Dur, too

By Jusuf Susilo Hartono

JAKARTA (JP): "Play as cheerfully and as well as possible, not
only for Gus Dur, but for every ticketholder" said N. Riantiarno.
At that time, all members of Teater Koma were sitting in a circle
seriously lending their ears to the briefing of the art director
backstage at Graha Bakti Budaya-Taman Ismail Marzuki.

President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid along with his wife,
Shinta Nuriyah and the rest of the audience had taken their
seats. The gong had been sounded three times, signaling that the
show Republik Bagong was about to begin.

Republik Bagong was Teater Koma's 10th performance, the run
taking place from April 27 to May 9, plus two extra days.

Compared with the previous days, that particular evening was
really special as it was enlivened by the presence of the
President. Gus Dur, Mrs. Nuriyah and a score of guards paid for
the tickets. And a few day earlier, some one hundred members of
the House of Representatives from various factions also saw the
performance after paying for the tickets: a thing that would not
have happened during the New Order regime.

Even though Vice President Megawati was slated to see the show
right after Gus Dur, she didn't turn up. "But...Mbak Mega was
one of our loyal fans, as before assuming the position of Vice
President, she often came over," said Nano.

The show ran normally. The actors came on and off stage in
line with the plot written by Nano. Bagong (superbly played by
Butet Kartaradjasa), uttered a string of jokes and criticism
capable of making one blush. Nano, as on previous nights, sitting
and puffing at a cigarette, monitored the show. The results of
this were to be used in an evaluation to perfect the subsequent
shows, or for general evaluation, which he termed a "closed
book".

This is just a morsel of the depiction of Nano's style and
attitude in checking and monitoring a show from the back of the
stage. This monitoring activity is, of course, the follow-up to a
preparatory process leading to an approximately three-month long
rehearsal at his workshop in Bintaro. In his capacity as a
playwright, he embarked on making preparations long before the
cast started to work. Staying up at night working on a computer,
he wove ideas in his heart and mind into a fascinating story.

Iceberg

Irrespective of likes and dislikes, Nano is the most
consistent director of plays at present. If you doubt it, just
compare him with other names that flash into your mind. With his
style, particularly characterized by Teater Koma, Nano together
with his arts group, performs at least twice a year whether in a
conducive situation or otherwise. Everyone knows that each time
he performs, the show will always be jam-packed with old faces or
newcomers.

Nano is, needless to say, able to maintain a good relationship
with his fans, currently numbering some 8,000 faithfuls. In
Teater Koma he is more concerned with artistic matters; he does
not involve himself in any other business. His wife, Ratna
Riantiarno, with help from her assistants, deals more with
matters relating to promotion, such as how to attract new faces
and management. Teater Koma is combined perfection based on the
experience brought in respectively both by Nano and Ratna from
Teater Populer and Teater Kecil.

Each and every experience in Teater Koma is akin to an
iceberg, in the sense that what is visible on the stage is only a
small tip of a much larger reality; and the invisible is the long
preparation and the unspoken messages one later receives.

Curious? Just come over to the theater. You will see
documentation depicting the whole process of staging Republik
Bagong and dozens of other previous products from sketches of
initial costume designs to ideas for stage settings. You will
also bump into photographs of rehearsals and videos of shows.
Neatly-stacked receipts are evidence of every single cent spent.

Newspaper clippings, Internet news, minutes of meetings,
evaluation reports (normally exciting), and news on banned
performances of Sampek Engtai (in Medan) and Suksesi and Opera
Kecil in Jakarta along with lists of workers' honorariums are
also neatly filed.

Some university students have made good use of the
documentation for their research papers. In fact, Nano could have
done something more beneficial for others with the material in
his theater. He knows that the clippings could be turned into
piles of books, and other items -- like the music -- could be
converted into something of more value.

"But I don't want to do that; my business is purely artistic,
let other people do it," said Nano, who is now focusing his life
on the theater after resigning as chief editor of Matra a few
months ago.

Nano started his habit of keeping records in 1977 when he
joined Teater Populer under the leadership of Teguh Karya. Apart
from being an actor in this respectable group during the 1960s
and '70s, he was responsible for documentation (1968-1975).

Soeharto vs Gus Dur

All of this, to Nano, is part of his and all other members'
commitment to the theater. This group of 500 or so members relies
on the system of togetherness and has an ideology, pledging to
stay united once they enter the group. And, again, vows are
recorded.

This commitment later becomes the "pillar of loyalty to the
profession", (as Teguh Karya loved to call it). The loyalty, then
becomes a living force that Arifin C. Noer terms a depiction, or
what Syaeful Anwar terms a random creation.

In the New Order Era, Nano acknowledged that he had used
Soeharto, with his New Order, as a inexhaustible source of
inspiration for his works.

When the regime collapsed, Nano was a bit worried that he
would not be able to get fascinating and fresh ideas. He turned
out to be wrong! The reform era and Gus Dur's administration have
spawned extraordinarily interesting situations.

For example: anyone can ask questions but no one can give an
answer. Unfortunately, the leader, who should be giving a
solution, is the one who keeps asking. The reform era has also
bred new things: blasphemy, egoism, self-interest, dominating
self-obligation and a square peg in a round hole. These all what
Republik Bagong reveals.

"But please don't get mixed up, Bagong is not Gus Dur, I'm
afraid that you and I could fall into the category of Bagong as
well," said Nano, denying that Bagong in the scenes personifies
Gus Dur.

In such a situation, according to the playwright who was born
in Cirebon on June 6, 1949, the theater is a place to accommodate
the thoughts of people who will want to think. Hence, the theater
as an amusement center, has a power to reflect life.

While keeping abreast of the latest developments in the Gus
Dur administration after the second memorandum, Nano retired for
a while, only to resume his observation of the travails of
Soeharto, from the time he came to power until his downfall. This
all is written in his play Presiden Burung-burung (Birds'
President) to be staged at the International Festival of
Contemporary Arts at Art Summit III, 2001 next August and
September in Jakarta.

We will see how Soeharto is depicted in the play. Is he as
pessimistic as Gus Dur, er... Bagong, who at the end can only say
in his hoarse voice, "Sorry I am not able to promise you any
change."