Poet and theater doyen from Lampung

Poet and theater doyen from Lampung

yos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

One afternoon, a thin man with a tapering face, aged about 35,
sat cross-legged on a bamboo divan in a coffee stall located
under leafy, rose-apple and munggur trees.

He was reading the Sunday edition of a Jakarta newspaper. Once
in a while, he scribbled something on a sheet of paper and took a
sip of coffee.

A short while later, several young people in their twenties --
two men and four women -- turned up. They seemed close to one
another. A while later the youngsters read a poem. "OK, now you,
Liza, what is your understanding of the poem?" said the thin man.

Liza gave her interpretation.

The discussion became heated when Liza's friends also gave
their comments. These youngsters interpreted the poem in their
own way and at the end of the discussion agreed to disagree about
what it meant. The thin man simply facilitated the discussion.
Only once in a while did he comment on the meaning of the poem.

Something like this happens almost every Sunday afternoon at
Bang Muslim coffee stall, Lampung Cultural Park, Jl. Cut Nyak
Dien, Bandarlampung, Lampung province. After the discussion, the
youngsters usually proceed with their drama rehearsal.

The facilitator is Iswadi Pratama, a noted director of plays
in Lampung and also a romantic poet. He also writes plays, which
usually take a poetic form.

Just like poet Umbu Landu Paranggi, who assisted the emergence
of many poets in Yogyakarta in the 1970s and 1980s, and in Bali
in the 1990s and the early years of the new century, Iswadi
Pratama is a literary doyen in Lampung.

He deserves this title because he is active in the literary
and drama worlds, not only for himself but also for others. A
father of a daughter, he brings literary and dramatic enthusiasm
to senior high school and university students.

Iswadi encourages young people to become engaged in literary
writing through discussions of literature, participated in by
small groups. In this type of forum the participants can
interpret freely the works being discussed.

Through his Teater Satu and Komunitas Rumah Panggung (Stilt
House Community), Iswadi encourages the young to develop their
literary talent. For this purpose, he visits senior high schools
to seek out talented youngsters.

Senior high school students who participate in drama groups in
their schools are also likely to be active later in campus drama
activities. If they enter Lampung University, they will again
meet Iswadi, who is one of the founders and patrons of the
university's drama group, Kurusetra Teater, managed by the Unit
of Student Arts Activities (UKMBS).

Stimulating talent to thrive

Young literary talent that Iswadi has helped to shape in
recent years includes Ari Pahala Hutabarat, Jimmy Maruli Alfian,
Inggit Putria Marga, Lupita Lukman, Renata Renalsya and Hendri
Roosevelt.

On his role in helping encourage the emergence of young
writers, Iswadi had this to say: "You can never create a poet. I
merely stimulate their talent so that they can grow naturally
into writers," he said.

Besides being a writer, Iswadi used to work as a journalist.
He worked at Lampung Post from 1997 to 2003, resigning because he
wanted to dedicate himself to drama.

"Since my resignation from Lampung Post, I have relied on my
literary and drama activities for my livelihood. Thank God,
everything has been plain sailing, especially as, since 2003,
Teater Satu has adopted a modern management system."

When he was culture editor at Lampung Post from 2000 to 2003,
Iswadi devoted space to secondary school students' journalistic
activities. Students in Bandarlampung sent in their own reports
on arts activities in their own schools.

At that time, Iswadi also taught interested secondary school
students how to write poems, short stories, essays and arts
reviews. "They enthusiastically submitted their work, even though
Lampung Post did not pay for it in advance. I encouraged them to
write well and ask them to send their work to the editor of
Lampung Post.

If they got published, the writers would get paid. Some of the
students have now become real writers," Iswadi said.

Since establishing his Teater Satu in 1996, Iswadi has written
eight plays. Three dwell on a social protest against Lampung's
traditional culture, while the other five contain a social
protest against the loss of public space.

Iswadi's Teater Satu has also performed many foreign plays
such as Waiting for Godot (by Samuel Becket), Lysistrata
(Aristophanes) and A Midsummer's Night's Dream (William
Shakespeare).

Meanwhile, the group often uses Arifin C. Noer's Kapai-Kapai,
Umang-Umang and Prita Istri Kita (Prita, Our Wife) and Putu
Wijaya's Monolog Nol (Monolog of Zero) as workshop materials.

Iswadi has directed 50 plays in his Teater Satu, and in
Lampung; they have also been performed in a number of cities
across the country.

Iswadi prefers to write and direct a play rather than writing
poems. Through his plays, he said, he had a lot of room to
produce social criticism.

"Poetry can appeal to only a limited number of readers. You
can reach a broader public with your theatrical performances
because plays are more easily understood than poems and can
create intimacy with the audience," said Iswadi, a graduate in
political science from the school of social and political
sciences at Lampung University.

His monolog, titled Perempuan Pilihan (Chosen Woman) is
critical of traditional values and the oppression of women.

In the monolog festival held by the Jakarta Arts Council in
2004, it won prizes for best play, best actress (Liza Mutiara)
and best art direction.

Iswadi is now waiting for some good news from The Rolex
Mentor, Switzerland. He is one of three multitalented candidates
due to be selected for a scholarship for an international art
apprenticeship.

If Iswadi passes the selection, he will depart in mid-2006 for
New York or Switzerland to study with Julie Taymor (the director
of The Lion King). No Indonesian artist has passed the final-
three selection stage, held on two previous occasions.