Rendra to stage 'Dragon Tribe'
JAKARTA (JP): A foreign company has just set up a joint venture in a country called Astinam to work on a mining project located near the Seloka Valley, home to the indigenous Suku Naga, (the Dragon Tribe).
The Astinam government is very enthusiastic about the project because it can generate a lot of cash for the country, not to mention for the officials themselves.
To make way for the project, the government plans to evict a village's residents. This development project, which benefits only a few people, will destroy the centuries-old civilization and ancient religion of the Suku Naga.
The efforts to fight for their rights to their land is the focus of W.S. Rendra's play Perjuangan Suku Naga (The Struggle of the Dragon Tribe) which is to be staged at Graha Bhakti Budaya at the Taman Ismail Marzuki art center on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the Second Art Summit Indonesia: Performing Arts.
"The essence of this play is still relevant to the current situation in Indonesia although I wrote and staged it 23 years ago," explained Rendra, one of the most prominent theatrical figures in Indonesia.
Perjuangan Suku Naga deals with corruption, collusion, social injustice, natural exploitation and other development excesses perpetrated by a government which ignores its people's voices.
The struggle of Suku Naga actually symbolizes the continuing endeavors of the Indonesian people to fight the unscrupulous practices of the authorities and their cronies.
"After more than 20 years, Indonesia has not yet changed that much. Only the cast members are new; the system remains unchanged, said Rendra.
To fit with the present sociopolitical situation, Rendra made slight changes to his script. He also replaced some of the old cast with new actors.
The play involves senior members of Bengkel Teater such as Ken Zuraida (Rendra's wife) as the Queen of Astinam, who replaces Yati Angkoro. Adi Kurdi plays the chief of the Suku Naga.
The three-and-a-half hour play is written in a Javanese puppet tradition, presenting a dalang (puppeteer) and wayang (puppet) characters.
Supported by more than 30 cast members from Bengkel Teater and musicians from the Surakarta Arts Institute (STSI), Rendra, through his Perjuangan Suku Naga, invites the audience to search for a solution to the current crisis and to think of the country's future.
For many Indonesians, Rendra's works have always provided new horizons and clear perspectives on current issues.
He was born Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra in Surakarta 63 years ago. The son of devout Catholics, he converted to Islam later in life. His father was a language teacher and his mother an accomplished classical dancer.
Rendra has five children from his first wife, the late Sunarti, four from second wife Sitoresmi and two from his current wife, Ken Zuraida.
He originally wanted to be an army officer, but he did not meet the standard enrollment prerequisites as he majored in social sciences instead of physics at high school.
He studied English Literature at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and taught drama there although he did not complete his studies. He continued his study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the United States.
Upon his return from the United States, Rendra started to shake local campus lives by echoing social criticism through poems, monologues and plays.
He fueled students' lives in the early l970s with new energy and new spirit to fight against corrupt authority. His poems and plays were the voice of the underprivileged groups in society.
He was jailed in the early days of his career for public readings of his poems and plays, which the government argued could threaten national unity. The government also banned his group in l979 from performing for eight years.
Rendra and his Bengkel Teater is still flourishing despite efforts to curb their freedoms of artistic expression.
Rendra founded Bengkel Teater in Yogyakarta in l967. Among its graduates are noted scriptwriters, film directors, and actors including the late Arifin C. Noor, Putu Wijaya, Azwar A.N. Deddy Sutomo, Sardono, Adi Kurdi, Putu Wijaya and Syu'bah Asa.
Rendra's works, loaded with trenchant social criticism, have served as a moral conscience for many. It has also often got him into trouble with the authorities.
His debut as playwright came at the age of 17 in l952 with Goncangan Pertama (First Snag). He wrote his first short story titled Drama Pasar Pon (Pon Market Drama).
He also wrote Orang Orang di Tikungan Jalan (People in the Corner of the Street) in l954, which won him an award from the Yogyakarta Ministry of Education and Culture office.
Other works include Sekda, Mastodon dan Burung Kondor, (Mastodon and the Condor Bird), Kereta Kencana (The Royal Coach), Panembahan Reso and Oedipus Rex.
Among his poetry anthologies are Potret Pembangunan Dalam Puisi (The Portrait of Development in a Poem), Bersatulah Pelacur-Pelacur Kota Jakarta (Unite Prostitutes of Jakarta) Pesan Pencopet Kepada Pacarnya (A Message of A Thief to His Girlfriend).
Rendra and Bengkel Teater has just staged Selamatan Putra- Putri Solomon (The Rituals of Solomon's Children) at the International Theater Festival in Kwa Chon in South Korea. (raw)