Street kids act out the plain realities of their lives

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."