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)