Putu puts on stage terror of May riots

Putu puts on stage terror of May riots

JAKARTA (JP): The horrific May riots will again be addressed.
This time, the case is brought to stage by playwright Putu Wijaya
and his Teater Mandiri.

His riot-inspired play, Ngeh (Understand), will be performed
on Saturday and Sunday at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center,
Central Jakarta, as a part of the Second Art Summit Indonesia
1998.

Putu, who lives in Sunter, North Jakarta, is a living
eyewitness to the riots because he saw some of the violence with
his own eyes. Ngeh is about the terror.

"I chose to present today's phenomenon. Teater Mandiri's
concept is to keep people alert through terror. When people start
to fall asleep, that is the very moment we launch our terror," he
was quoted by Kompas as saying.

Indeed, Putu is fond of terror as a theme. Terror also
featured in his earlier works Dor, Aum and Gerr.

In Ngeh, which lasts 75 minutes, Putu experiments with
curtains. Members of Teater Mandiri will explore their
imaginations and perform behind the curtains, creating beautiful
shadows for the audience to enjoy.

The music is arranged and played by contemporary musician
Harry Roesli and his DKSB group, who also performed in Putu's
other theatrical works.

Teater Mandiri is the second theater group to perform at the
art summit. W.S. Rendra and his Bengkel Teater last week played
Suku Naga (Dragon Tribe) for two nights. Public response was
beyond expectation and tickets were sold out a few days before
the performance.

Like Ngeh, Suku Naga also addresses current issues. It is
about the struggle of indigenous people who are told by the
government to give up their land for a mining project. (sim)