Retno Maruti stages 'Sekar Pembayun'

JAKARTA (JP): She is just married and looks happy, but deep in her heart, she is restless. She is torn between her love for her husband and her devotion to her father.

She is Sekar Pembayun, daughter of Panembahan Senapati, founder of the 16th century Mataram Islamic Kingdom and Mataram dynasty. And she is brought to the stage by Retno Maruti and her dance group Padneswara in a refined Javanese classical dance drama entitled Sekar Pembayun, performed at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta from Friday through Sunday.

Sekar Pembayun tells the story of political intrigue prior to the establishment of the Mataram Kingdom, colored with a tragic love story between Sekar Pembayun and Ki Ageng Mangir, an influential leader who was also Senapati's great competitor.

Panembahan Senapati "uses" his smart and beautiful daughter to attract the attention of Ki Ageng Mangir, his political rival.

Sekar Pembayun's mission is successful. Ki Ageng Mangir falls deeply in love with his enemy's daughter. They are married and look happy. But Sekar Pembayun is trapped between her true love for her husband and her devotion to her father.

She has promised to bring her husband to Panembahan Senapati, who wants to eliminate the power of Ki Ageng Mangir and, if possible, to kill him.

"This is the story of a powerful man who exploits the soft and gentle characteristics of a woman to pursue his political ambition," Maruti said.

Maruti also staged Sekar Pembayun in 1979 and 1988.

"I like the theme of the story and I feel it is so relevant to the current situation in Indonesia," said Maruti, who refused to link Sekar Pembayun's character to any female political figure in Indonesia.

Maruti admitted she has modified several parts of the story to adjust it to current conditions. She has also changed a number of acts which are not in line with newly found information on Sekar Pembayun.

Maruti said the story, based on an idea by Amir Rohmiyato and KRMT Sindunegoro, required some changes. "I have researched and found new information on Sekar Pembayun's character from various sources," she maintained.

Sekar Pembayun was formerly perceived as a woman who sacrificed everything, including her beloved husband, to satisfy her father's political goal.

"The truth is that she was a woman who, with her compassionate and feminine personality, tried very hard to avoid any violence. The previous story needed correction," Maruti said.

The last act shows the tragic meeting between the newlywed Sekar Pembayun, Ki Ageng Mangir and Pembayun's father Panembahan Senapati.

The dance involves 40 artists from the Padneswara group, the Bharata group and a number of famous dancers, including Maruti, her husband Sentot Sudhiharto, Maruti's daughter Ruri Nostalgia, dancer-choreographer Miroto, Wahyu Santoso Prabowo and Nungki Kusumastuti.

Nungki Kusumastuti, also production manager, explained the group actually wanted to stage the work in October last year.

"But, we had to cancel it for various reasons, including financial," Nungki said.

Staging traditional works requires hard effort. Money has become a major problem for most traditional dance group in Indonesia.

"It is very difficult to find sponsors to finance our project. But it doesn't hamper us from staging Sekar Pembayun," Nungki said.

But, she said, the group received support from individuals who really care about the development of traditional performing arts.

To encourage the young generation to appreciate Javanese-style dance, the group will perform especially for students, young art lovers and journalists on Friday night. The show will be opened for the public on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21.

"It is surprising that all tickets have been sold. This has certainly encouraged us and probably other traditional dance groups to remain optimistic," Nungki said.

For more than 20 years, Retno Maruti and the Padneswara group have been staging high-quality Javanese classical works, including Ciptoning, Abimanyu Gugur (The Death of Abimanyu), Sawitri, Palgunadi and Dewabrata. (raw)