Shock of the new in Jakarta production of 'Julius Caesar'

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): The mob cannot care less when Cinna the poet pleads he is not the traitor they are searching for in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. "Tear him for his bad verses! Tear him for his bad verses!" they shriek defiantly.

Jakarta Arts Institute's Teater Lembaga, set to perform the play next week, knows this scene only too well. They realize, too, that they are just like the poet Cinna, needing the public's endorsement of their production to succeed.

True, high-profile names are backing their 22nd production, scheduled to be staged from July 11 to July 13 at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki Art Center in Central Jakarta. Respected actor Didi Petet will play the lead. Model Tamara Blezynski is Calphurnia, Caesar's wife. Sigit Hardadi, noted for his specialty of playing antagonistic characters, is the manipulative Cassius.

Joseph Ginting and Azuzan JG are directing the production involving more than 70 actors and actresses. Fashion designer Harry Dharsono labored over the costumes.

The celebrity glitz is merely icing on the cake for the resurgence in this Shakespeare play. With a recent production of Julius Caesar by a theater group in Bandung, an aborted one by W.S. Rendra's Teater Bengkel and one being planned by a Malaysian theater academy, this tragedy seems to be part of a theatrical craze.

Why Julius Caesar and why now?

"Julius Caesar has a relevance to our current situation," Azuzan told The Jakarta Post. "It talks about leadership -- what an ideal leader is, how someone can make a change and who should decide about the change."

He chooses his words carefully when asked if he believes the play carries future portents. "What happens in a theater will only happen there. It won't happen outside the theater," he said.

Written by Shakespeare in 1599, Julius Caesar is based on actual historical events which occurred in 44 B.C. in Rome. Teater Lembaga moved the setting into an unknown country, and Harry's colorful, extravagant costume designs are indeed a world away from Rome's simple and basic styles. Art designer Boyke Mulyana built a bamboo stage structure in place of Roman architecture.

Teater Lembaga also chose Ikranegara's Indonesian adaptation of Julius Caesar, instead of Asrul Sani's. "Ikranegara's language is more colloquial," Joseph said.

The setting may not be ancient Rome, the language is not Shakespearean English, but the plot still follows the playwright's general guidelines.

Aging tyrant Caesar is at the apex of his power. He wins every battle to the delight of the adoring people. He is offered the crown. Cassius (Sigit Hardadi) and Casca (Fuad Idris), his fellow military leaders, fume with jealousy. Arguing that they should protect the integrity of the Republic, they persuade the noble Brutus (Ucok Siregar), Caesar's trusted friend, to join their conspiracy to murder their leader.

Believing the pair's entreaties that killing Caesar will save the nation from destruction, Brutus assassinates the leader.

But Mark Antony (Robinsar Simanjuntak) and other Caesar loyalists do not stand idly by. They turn popular opinion against the conspirators, who are killed.

Colors

Azuzan likens the directing experience with his friend Joseph to "two artists who paint on the same canvas".

"We make the sketch together, and we paint our own colors," he said.

What if the colors clash? "Both of us come from the same institution, the Jakarta Arts Institute, so our basic principle is the same," Azuzan replied.

Like their previous productions, Julius Caesar is a reunion for Teater Lembaga's Art Institute (IKJ) students and alumni. Founded by Indonesian theater figures, the late Wahyu Sihombing, Tatiek Malyati, D. Djajakusuma and Pramana Padmodarmaya in 1975, Teater Lembaga has functioned as a laboratory for IKJ students and alumni in their theatrical experiments.

For veteran actor Didi, who is also an IKJ alumnus, Teater Lembaga provides a rare opportunity to play his favorite Shakespearean characters.

Dream

The role of Julius Caesar was Didi's obsession. "A couple of years ago when I heard Joseph Ginting wanted to stage Julius Caesar, I told him, 'Joseph, I should be the Julius Caesar'."

Brutus is one of the most complex characters in the play. Although he joins the conspiracy and murders Caesar, he does not fall into the conventional definition of an antagonist.

"Brutus is, in fact, a good man. He is willing to sacrifice himself for other people's sake. He sacrifices himself for the nation," said Azuzan, who also plays senator Cicero in this production.

Young actor Ucok Siregar has the formidable task of playing Brutus among experienced peers like Didi and Sigit. "Julius Caesar offers a chance for young actors to learn from the more experienced ones and to play important roles," said Azuzan.

Julius Caesar is in many ways a man's play as most of the scenes revolve around the male characters. It only has two female characters, Calphurnia and Portia, Brutus' wife, but their roles are limited to a few acts.

But the entrance of Calphurnia will be one of the most heavily anticipated simply because of Tamara, model and star of a dozen television series.

"We read in a tabloid that Tamara was interested in acting on stage. We offered her the role of Calpurnia because IKJ lacks actresses," said Jeremias Nyangoen, chairman of Teater Lembaga.

"Tamara wants to polish her acting skills because, after all, theater is the basis of acting," he added.

This clever move to sign up popular stars has sparked much interest in this usually non-glamorous field. Big names do sell. Names like Didi and Tamara have media and corporate sponsors pouring in. Local TV station ANTeve plans to broadcast the performance later this month.

For theater people, the entrance of popular culture into their field is part of their struggle to survive and gain more public acknowledgment. "The theater is poor, but we should not stop fighting," Jeremias said.