Putu's 'Bor' depicts man's struggle against injustice
Putu's 'Bor' depicts man's struggle against injustice
By Oei Eng Goan
JAKARTA (JP): Absurdist Putu Wijaya's Bor brought the house down last night, despite the absence of plot in the 90-minute theatrical performance presented by Teater Mandiri.
Bor, Indonesian for drill, is a both an aural and visual presentation of man's struggle against injustice and his fight for democracy in a world of moral degradation and corruption.
Performed for three days at Teater Arena of the Taman Ismail Marzuki Art Center, Central Jakarta, Bor, which was written and directed by Putu himself, consisted of two parts: story telling and dramatic dance, supported by stereo sound, scrim backdrops and special lighting effects.
In the first part, playwright Putu appeared on stage. With deft narration he captivated the audience with three short stories reflecting social protest and criticism aimed at government policy.
As a law school graduate from the prestigious Gadjah Mada University, Putu doubtlessly knows what to criticize and how far he can go with his satirical narration without facing the wrath of the authorities. This, obviously, aroused the audience's interest and added to their admiration of his outspokenness.
The dramatist began with a story about a woman born without lips. Despite her deformity, she was admired by her fellow villagers until a government official brought her to Jakarta to undergo plastic surgery. With a mouth and lips she became so talkative that she began telling everything she knew. This irritated the official, who then had her mouth sealed again. The moral of the story is clear: silence is golden and, at times, speaking the truth is considered sinful by certain officials.
This was followed by a story about a community leader who claims to defend the interests of democracy and the poor when their houses are about to be demolished for a new road. In the end, after receiving a Rp 100-million bribe, the community leader asks the people not to hesitate to give up their land or even their lives for the sake of the rich.
The third story was about a cockroach that could talk but could not be killed. The cockroach, trodden on many a time, symbolizes Tempo, the widely-read weekly news magazine banned by the government last year. The episode undeniably shows the playwright's ardent support and sympathy for the now defunct magazine, where Putu formerly worked as a journalist.
The second part of the performance was a dance drama of "mental terror" depicting a chaotic world and human sufferings.
Presented by a dozen dancers, some wearing masks, the audience was brought into a dreamy world of evil forces. In the vein of experimental theater, the performance portrayed human behavior as "a series of ceremonies expressing sexual and political desires for violence and domination".
Accompanied by thunderous music arranged by noted musician Harry Roesli, the occasional spurting of stage smoke and shadowplay effects on the backdrops, the dancers portrayed a mesmerizing odyssey of turbulent and surreal encounters, reminding one of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, an American film noted for its theme of anti-violence.
The dimly lit stage and the large back cloth covering the stage floor supported the horrific atmosphere and Putu's world of mental terror and horror, which he considers necessary for the preservation of civilization.
"...Mental terror is indispensable to balance the monotony of life, a shock therapy of human passiveness as well as a driving force for theatrical innovation," Putu wrote of Bor.