Street kids act out the plain realities of their lives

By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

JAKARTA (JP): Just as the prosperous and the pretentious alighted from their Mercedes-Benzs and BMWs to watch the renowned Teater Koma perform at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, the capital's playhouse, a group of street children arrived at the modest performance hall of the Jakarta Arts Institute a couple of kilometers away.

Hailing from various slums throughout Jakarta, the children were dressed up in their best, perhaps their only, clothes for the performance of Luka-luka (The Wounds) by Sanggar Anak Akar (Root Studio).

Every Sunday afternoon the kids, aged from seven years to 17 years, leave behind their harsh daily routine as street singers, parking attendants and any other menial street job that can earn them money to learn how to act.

They showed their talents in Kamekspo '98, held from July 23 - July 26 to display street children's creativity.

The audience, mainly children and including many street workers, appeared like they would be hard to pleased prior to the performance. Some made the most out of the hall's smooth and shiny hardwood floor to play soccer using their own sandals as the ball, while others ran around restlessly. Yet as the hall's lights started to dim and the act unfolded, the audience's attention zeroed in on the stage.

The act was a clear and familiar reflection of their daily life. It began with a communal prayer and a choir stating the anxiety and marginalized position of street kids.

We do not have land/ we do not have power/ So we have become those who are always been sacrificed/

As the message of the choir sank in, the spotlight illuminated a doll figure sitting on top of a tall column. Below, a group of kids acting as technocrats debated the situation in "Doyok" village. Suddenly, the doll fell, and a terrible crisis ensued.

Hard hit was the family of Tegar, and the boy was forced to work on the street as fiddler after his father lost his job. Beaten up by other street kids and new to the intricacies of the street culture, Tegar had to learn its hard realities. Removed from his suffering, an activist engaged in a pointless debate with a government official on the raised platform.

In the 45-minute performance, the children sang, danced and filled the stage with their witty and humorous dialog. On the far corner of the stage, a group of boys played the drums, keyboard, bass and guitar that accompanied the choir throughout the play.

The storyline was simple but contemplative on the daily routine of daily life. It was hard to tell whether these children were acting or just being themselves. The reality was brought home as performers fried real shrimp crackers on the stage and others mingled with the audience and started to sing for money.

"It is easy for my friends to act, they are just playing themselves," said Dede Supriatna, 15, who acted as the government official. Still living with his parents in the slum area of Kebun Nanas, Dede joined the theater four years ago. The son of a housemaid, he considers himself fortunate since he is still able to go to school while selling newspapers.

The story idea came from the children when they attended Kampore, a jamboree held by the Jakarta Social Institute for child workers two months ago. More than 250 children from Jakarta's slum areas were divided into groups, each assigned to produce skits.

"I saw the common theme among these skits was the ongoing crisis. My job was only to seam these skits to form a cohesive script," said I.B. Karyanto, the director and scriptwriter of the act.

Karyanto began to work with the children nine years ago. He cofounded Teater Akar in November 1993. He realized early the challenge of dealing with them in their complicated lives.

"I have to align my schedule with theirs, otherwise they would run away," Karyanto said. The onset of rain, a lucrative time for these kids to rent out umbrellas, may easily alter the theater program, for example.

High mobility of slum children creates a high turnover in the theater. Karyanto considered the younger members of the theater group as his third generation students.

Karyanto chose theater as a media to teach the children to speak eloquently and to think logically and critically. The children are nurtured to develop their ideas and present it to their peers, usually followed by a critique session.

Through probing questions, Karyanto and his fellow activists try to satisfy the children's curiosity.

Now Karyanto is enjoying the fruits of his effort. He pointed to the high initiative of the theater's members. The organizing committee of the event was chaired by the children, who are divided into various subcommittees.

"Discipline and persistence comes naturally with these kids. Unlike children of their age, they are used to hard work and juggling many things in their lives," he added.

To make the performance possible, the theater group provides food and transportation as compensation for their efforts.

After the performance, the actors and actress of Teater Akar were back enjoying being children. A'on, who plays Tegar in the act, was unavailable for an interview the next day because he was in the middle of a soccer game outside the performance hall. For a short time, he and his peers savored a taste of freedom from work, living out the words they had sung the night before: "In the word that unites/ uniting in our footsteps/ building our dreams."