Rendra's Bengkel Theater to stage 'Sobrat'
Rendra's Bengkel Theater to stage 'Sobrat'
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Even the most complex of works becomes readily comprehensible and ever so relevant to today's world in the hands of renowned director W.S. Rendra.
This is as true of Sobrat as it is of any of his other works. Taking West Java as its setting during the colonial era in the 1920s, the play centers around the character Sobrat, who is naive and meek, but strong physically.
Sobrat -- the apple of his mother's eye -- is a frequent winner of dogong or Sundanese traditional wrestling bouts.
Lured by what he thinks will be easy money and a cushy life, Sobrat accepts an offer from a female manpower agent to go to Deli in Sumatra island to work as a gold miner at Bukit Kemilau (Shining Hill). However, Sobrat and his companions from Kampung Lisung end up being enslaved and cheated. They finally realize they will never become rich working as laborers.
Sobrat forgets about his mother, Mimi, and leaves her to eke out a miserable existence, all the time missing her son terribly.
The dark side of Sobrat is personified as a beautiful woman, Monkleng, who continually encourages him to sin, such as by having liaisons with prostitutes and getting involved in the occult.
The clever musical arrangement plays a vital role in setting the mood and ambience of the play.
While the ending is rather cliched, the play still manages to be relevant today.
Playwright Arthur S. Nalan said, "It is a product of my concern for the deteriorating social conditions in our country. We are simply facing too many problems. Our migrant workers, for example, experience ordeals that beggar belief."
Sobrat won first prize in a prestigious 2004 theater script- writing competition organized by the Dewan Kesenian Jakarta, in which Rendra was one of the judges.
His broad knowledge of anthropology and social problems add to the richness of his play.
But Arthur, a director and lecturer at the Bandung Arts Institute, likes to keep a low profile.
Rendra, who turns 70 this year, also agreed that the play spoke volumes about all that was going wrong in the country.
"Technically, it is also challenging because it requires so much creativity to be able to visualize different settings at the same time. Did you notice when Sobrat was in a deep sleep and Mongkleng came to speak to him? There is also a scene where we have to go back to previous events, a kind of flashback," Rendra said.
Art director Ken Zuraida said, "I was surprised when one day Rendra told me that he wanted to be director. I never influence his decisions as regards his creative processes, but it's just amazing how he picked who's working with him for this production."
"Rendra's decision to accept a play written by a less well- known playwright is also amazing. He saw that there was something special about this play," Ken Zuraida told The Jakarta Post at the theater workshop on Thursday.
Unlike his previous production, which needed six months to rehearse, Rendra only needed around two months to rehearse for Sobrat with his actors and actresses.
The production, which will be staged on June 23, is truly star-studded with great names like I Wayan Sadra as musical director and Boi G. Sakti as choreographer.
Isaias Sadewa, Mariam Supraba, Opie Andaresta, Clara Sinta and Adi Kurdi are among the actors taking part in the two-and-a-half- hour-long production.
Sobrat
Bengkel Teater Rendra
Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Cikini, Central
Jakarta. Starts on June 23 and continues through June 26 from 8
p.m. to 10:30 p.m.