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.