Sri keeps her feet on the ground as career soars
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Even today, Sri Qadariatin says that she has no idea why she was selected to play the Chinese princess We Cudaiq in the prestigious I La Galigo theatrical production.
"I don't now exactly, but perhaps because I was the only one who did a somersault in the audition," she said jokingly.
The production, directed by the acclaimed Robert Wilson, premiered at the Esplanade in Singapore in March before touring several cities around the world.
Involving more than 50 of Indonesia's finest performers, I La Galigo was inspired by the 14th century South Sulawesi epic poem Sureq Galigo. Adapted from the original 600 folio-page poem by Rhoda Grauer, the production traces the divine origins of an incestuous brother and sister -- Sawerigading and We Cudaiq -- considered the original ancestors of the Bugis people of South Sulawesi.
Certainly, it took more than a somersault for Sri Qadariatin, or Uung to her friends, to land the role.
In fact, she was invited by Wilson to be involved in his next production, Persephone, the only performer from I La Galigo to receive the honor. In the play, staged in several cities in Spain from late July to early August, she played the title role.
Restu Kusumaningrum from Bali Purnati Center, one of the producers of I La Galigo, said that Uung had a tough act to follow, as the role had been played by Greek actress Marianna Kavallieratos for years.
"Uung must show her professionalism, she should be able to face competitive circumstances in the international theater community," Restu said.
For the role of Cudaiq, Restu presented three names, including Uung, to the producers. She used the same method when I La Galigo producers asked her recommendations for actresses to play Persephone -- and again Uung was chosen.
As with her previous role, Uung said she did not know why she was chosen to play Persephone. The first she knew was when a producer invited her to be part of the performance in Spain.
"He (the producer) asked me if I would be free from July to August. Actually, I had been scheduled to rehearse with my friends in Yogyakarta for the September performance at the Jakarta Art Summit. But I did not want to miss what could be a great chance, so I said I would be free, and he asked me to join their next production," she said.
The "friends" she referred to were with Yogyakarta-based Teater Garasi theater group, the training ground for many young stage performers like Uung. The group is scheduled to perform at the upcoming 4th Art Summit Indonesia 2004 International Festival on Contemporary Performing & Visual Arts, which runs from Sept. 11 to Oct. 10.
Born on Oct. 28, 1978, in Bali, Uung became part of Teater Garasi in 1996, in her first year as a diploma student in the public relations department of Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
At the time, she did not have any great aspirations of becoming an actor.
"But my passion for theater and acting grows along with my involvement in the community," she said.
Her first role with Teater Garasi was as one of the actresses in the mime play Carousel in 1997.
Her acting career developed along with the theater troupe's progression, as it steadily gained a wider audience -- going from performing on a makeshift stage at UGM's School of Social and Political Science to hallowed Gedung Kesenian Jakarta in Jakarta.
"My personal favorite is Repertoar Hujan (Rain Repertoire): A Man Who is So Much in Love with the Rain," she said. "I like it because I enjoyed acting in that performance so much. Some of my friends agreed, and said I was very good in that show."
The play, which had limited dialog, a cast of five (two of the actors were confined to a barrel) but was full of acrobatic movements, was based on a poem written by Gunawan Maryanto, one of the members of the theater group.
The performance toured the Central Java town of Surakarta, Yogyakarta and Jakarta, receiving a warm response from the audience.
"Garasi told the actresses and the actors to take dance and martial art classes. I have taken Javanese traditional dance class and the Bangau Putih martial arts class in Yogyakarta," she said.
One of her friends regards Uung as a person who is "so comfortable inside her own skin". Others believe the woman -- who was part of the TV series Pengakuan Pariyem (Pariyem's Confession) based on Linus Suryadi's novel -- has the makings of a TV or movie star.
Pengakuan Pariyem has yet to be aired, but Uung is ambivalent about it, disliking acting for TV but enjoying working with director Sam Sarumpaet.
"It's my fault," she grinned. "I couldn't act very well in a realism scenario, in stories depicting daily reality." But she quickly added that it's a challenge that she needs to overcome.
"I want to stage a monolog, I'm working on it. Doing a good monolog has a lot to do with being able to depict realistic characters," she said.
Actually, it might also be interesting to watch her doing her famous somersaults on stage.