Playwright pays tribute to late Arifin C. Noor
JAKARTA (JP): Leading playwright Putu Wijaya cites the late theater and movie director Arifin C. Noer as the founder of modern Indonesian theater.
"Modern theater with reference to the West had been here for a long time. But it was Arifin who established the basics of Indonesian modern theater based on Indonesian tradition," Putu said in a discussion held in remembrance of Arifin at Taman Ismail Marzuki on Saturday
Arifin died on May 28 this year at the age of 54.
Earlier efforts to put Indonesian tradition and characters into modern theater failed because most of them were artificial, according to Putu.
"They tried, for example, by using Indonesian traditional garb. Still, their roots were in the West, which could be easily seen in the idioms and expression used. Arifin made use of what existing traditions in a new way," Putu said.
Arifin, who died of liver complications, was a founder of the theater group Teater Kecil. His plays have been performed here and abroad, including Kapai-Kapai (1970) which has been performed in Dutch, French and English.
In 1972, Arifin began his film career as a screenwriter and later won various awards for his scripts. In 1977, he began directing and presented his first work Suci Sang Primadona (Suci the Prima Donna) which earned him a Citra award.
Arifin took an "Indonesian approach" when creating his plays, which were rich in local tradition, Putu recalled. Such an approach is common in Indonesian traditional theater, while that of the West concentrates more on the product.
Arifin usually created his plays without writing any scenarios first. He just made, rehearsed and developed it and put it into a script later, Putu said.
"As a result, the creation of a play was the peak while the script only served to record the process. That was the reason why performances of his plays always differed from one day to the next. As a process, it grew everyday," he said.
Other speakers at the discussion were film critic Noorca M. Massardi, who analyzed Arifin's 11 movies, and poet Goenawan Mohammad reviewed Arifin's thoughts.
The discussion was attended by well-known film and theater figures such as lecturer Tatiek Malyati Sihombing, actress Ratna N. Riantiarno and her husband playwright Riantiarno, actor Ikranegara and film critic Salim Said.
Putu said that Arifin's contribution has become embodied in Indonesian modern theater and is now followed by the younger generation.
"Today, if we try to analyze modern Indonesian theater by using Western standards, we will be lost. But if we use modern Indonesian theater as a standard, everything will be clear," said the beret-wearing playwright.
Arifin was also noted for his controversial films Serangan Fajar, which won Best Film in the 1982 Indonesian Film Festival, and Pengkhianatan G 30 S/PKI (The Betrayal G30S/PKI), both funded by Perusahaan Film Negara (PFN -- the state-owned film company). (als)