Srimulat back in town, without any fresh ideas

Srimulat back in town, without any fresh ideas

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): Vampires are generally supposed to be
frightening. Some, like the bloodsuckers in the film Interview
with a vampire, may even cause us to feel pity. But have you ever
seen a funny dracula?

An unorthodox dracula was in town last week as part of the
Srimulat Comedy Show at Taman Ria Park of Senayan, Central
Jakarta, where they performed regularly from 1981 to 1989 until
slow business put an end to their performances.

Last weekend, the Taman Ria hall was crowded by Srimulat's
biggest fans, who did not hesitate to spend between Rp 10,000
(US$4.5) and Rp 60,000 ($27.5) for a seat.

The tickets were not cheap, considering that the show took
place in a modest hall without air conditioning. The audience,
including the first-class spectators, had to sit on folding
chairs.

But many turned out for the shows, obviously not bothered by
the lofty ticket prices and dilapidated building. They did not
protest either, when, at the beginning of the show last Saturday,
the hall went completely dark for a few minutes due to a power
outage.

The performance began with a number of songs presented by the
Bambang Brothers Band and various Srimulat artists. They sang
traditional keroncong and dangdut songs as well as old Indonesian
and Western pop songs like Widuri and Release Me. As comedians,
some of them not only sang but also dazzled the audience with
their stage acts and the costumes, including the dracula costume.

The main show featured Srimulat's famous stars, including
Asmuni, Timbul, Tarsan, Nurbuat, Jujuk, Tesy, Mamiek Prakoso,
Kadir, Rina Ribut, Nunung and Betet. Among the guest stars were
top comedians Doyok and Dorce, actress Desy Ratnasary and photo
model Keke.

They performed a different show every day. On Saturday, they
presented Reincarnation of Satria Baja Hitam. Satria Baja Hitam
is the hero in a popular children's TV series.

As the title suggested, the story was silly and absurd. It was
about a girl who fell in love with Satria Baja Hitam. But who
cared about the story? Not the audience. They came with a single
purpose -- to have fun, or more specifically, to laugh. And they
did.

The show began with the appearance of Doyok and Asmuni as
servants in a classic Srimulat opening. Servants, both male and
female, play a key role in almost all Srimulat shows. Srimulat's
servants are not oppressed, upset or suffering because they are
poor. No, they are witty, wise, brave and funny. They even dare
to argue with their employers.

Sexual remarks are common in their shows and sometimes it is
the female characters who tease their male counterparts. But
women are more often treated as sexual objects.

One of Srimulat's strong attraction is the cross-dressing
character of Tesy. Though coquettish and cute, he can be rough
too.

"He (Tesy) can act other roles, but we earn more money if he
plays a cross-dresser," his colleague, Tarsan, said in an
interview with Kompas in 1984.

History

Srimulat today is exactly the same as it was 10 years ago. But
50 years ago, Srimulat was different.

The Srimulat Comedy Group, which was formed by Teguh in the
early 1960s, was named after Teguh's wife, Srimulat.

A member of a royal family, Srimulat was born in 1908 in a
village in Klaten, Central Java. Her mother died when she was
four, but she still had two stepmothers because her father, one
of the richest men in the village, had several wives. Srimulat's
father married her off when she was 15 years old. Not long after,
Srimulat gave birth to a son, who died two and a half years
later. Three months later, her husband died. Srimulat then
returned to her father's house, but she was not happy, especially
when she heard from one of her stepmothers that he planned to
take a mistress. The 20-year-old Srimulat then decided to break
with tradition and escape from the house to start a new life.

Srimulat began her career as a singer at family parties. She
also performed in traditional festivities, singing and dancing.
As a gifted entertainer, she soon became popular.

In 1939 she remarried. But the marriage lasted less than three
years. She ended the marriage when she realized that her husband
already had another wife, according to author Herry Gendut
Djanarto in Teguh Srimulat: In Comedy and Melody.

In 1947, at the age of 39, Srimulat fell in love with Teguh, a
talented guitarist who was 18 years younger. They lived together
and decided to marry in 1950 after they had a child.

Srimulat and Teguh formed Gema Malam Srimulat, a group of
musicians and comedians, and traveled across Java. In 1961 they
stopped traveling and performed regularly at the People's
Entertainment Park of Surabaya. They focused on comedy and often
played together with top artists and comedians from other cities,
including the late Bing Slamet, Bagyo, Iskak, Us-Us and Atmonadi.

In 1968 Srimulat died from diabetes.

Teguh kept on working with the Srimulat Group, which became
more popular with the introduction of such characters as humorous
draculas and ghosts. Paimo was their most popular dracula
character.

In 1971 Teguh, 45, married one of the artists in his group,
the 24-year-old Djuwariah, popularly known as Jujuk.

The Srimulat Group performed in Jakarta for the first time in
1972 at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center, and their star
continued to shine brightly. More people came to know Srimulat,
and many fell in love with them as they appeared on TV shows now
and then. They also performed regularly in Semarang and
Surakarta, Central Java.

Problems

In 1981 most of them moved to Jakarta and started to play at
Taman Ria Park. In the first few years, the group was able to
attract big crowds, but in 1986 business started to slow down.
The problems got worse as some artists were not satisfied with
the management and quit. Several other comedians were dismissed
as they performed outside Taman Ria Park without the consent of
the management. Among those who left were top comedians Basuki,
Gepeng, Johni Gudel and Kadir. Unable to handle the situation,
the group leader, Teguh, gave up and returned to his hometown in
Surakarta, where he established a traditional Javanese drama
Ketoprak group in 1988. Asmuni took his place managing Srimulat.

In May 1989, the Srimulat Group moved out from Taman Ria Park
after the group management failed to pay its Rp 22 million debt.

The following month, Srimulat tried to win the people's hearts
back by performing at Lebak Bulus Stadium in South Jakarta. But
only a few were interested and it seemed that most were fed up
with Srimulat and their lack of fresh ideas. The emergence of
other comedian groups, including the ones formed by ex-Srimulat
artists, like Warkop, Bagito Group and Batik Group, also affected
the popularity of Srimulat.

Many people were concerned with what happened to Srimulat.
Srimulat was the only traditional comedy group which succeeded in
gaining wide public attention for many years. During the golden
years, several Srimulat artists even became film stars with
lucrative careers.

The fact that many people came to Srimulat's performance in
Taman Ria Park early this month indicates that Srimulat still has
a lot of fans. But, without the improvement of the management and
an injection of fresh ideas, it will be hard for the group to
revive the golden days.