Teater Lembaga wraps a sucessful 'Julius Caesar'

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): Call this Theater Marketing 101. Sign up the most popular TV actress to play the leading female role. Dress the cast in a flashy wardrobe. Select a scenario spinning around jealousy, betrayal and murder.

The formula for television's banal soap operas worked for Teater Lembaga's commercially successful production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Tickets for the three performances sold out days before the opening night on July 11. Some desperate enthusiasts bought tickets from scalpers at prices six times the set rate.

It was more a case of Shakespeare entering popular culture than the other way around.

As Tamara Blezynski, the country's highest-paid TV actress, made her first entrance on stage as Calphurnia, Julius Caesar's wife, the whirl of cameras broke the silence in the Graha Bhakti Budaya auditorium.

Those who watched Julius Caesar merely for Tamara would have been disappointed. Calphurnia made only three appearances in this 4-hour play.

Nevertheless, costume designer Harry Dharsono and directors Joseph Ginting and Azuzan JG knew how to make the most of her attraction. In a departure from Shakespeare's original script, Teater Lembaga's adaptation had Calphurnia sleeping on stage in her high-cut sleeping gown.

Tamara's appearance was too brief to answer speculation whether she could carry the heavy weight of stage acting. But, one thing can be said, it was not bad. She managed to convey emotions as a loving wife who feared for her husband's fate.

The emotional mood of Julius Caesar tends to the dark and grim -- jealousy, manipulation and bloodshed are the main elements. Unfortunately, the highly publicized costume designs, made by Harry Dharsono and colleagues, were incongruous with the mood. Most of the designs, with total value of =Rp 350 million (US$142,560), were too colorful and outrageous. They would have been more fitting in a carnival than a Shakespearean political tragedy.

Martyr

Written in 1599, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was the first of the Bard's works on Roman history. Yet, it would have been more appropriately titled The Tragedy of Brutus.

Brutus (Ucok R. Siregar) is the martyr to his noble beliefs. Manipulated by the jealous Cassius (Sigit Hardadi), Brutus was convinced that the republic was in danger as Julius Caesar (Didi Petet) was offered the crown. Thinking that killing the aging leader would save the country, Brutus agreed to join the conspiracy.

The country instead plummets into civil war. Caesar loyalists, Marc Anthony (Robinsar Simanjuntak) and Octavius Caesar (Oding Siregar), turn people against the conspirators and lead troops to hound them. Knowing they have no recourse, Brutus and Cassius commit suicide.

A highly acclaimed actor, Didi gave an unsurprisingly cool yet charismatic performance of the old, victorious and proud leader. Sigit's experience in playing antagonist characters was ideal for Cassius' manipulative traits. Fuad Idris, who played the other conspirator Casca, stole the audience's hearts with his funny gestures and humorous retorts.

The audience of this political tragedy witnessed the deaths, one by one, of the main characters. In the end, only Marc Anthony and Octavius Caesar survive the turmoil. Unfortunately, as soon as old Caesar, Cassius and Brutus died, the performance waned. Robinsar and Oding failed to raise the interest until the show was completely finished.

With his heavy, deep voice, Ucok was a natural to play the noble character loved by Julius Caesar and respected by the people. But he started sluggishly, looking nervous in the first scene. However, he quickly picked up his confidence and managed to give an outstanding performance.

Although portraying a tyrant and a bloody battle for succession, Julius Caesar did not deliver any social or political criticism. There was one exception when Ucok cleverly improvised his line, an act that caused audience cheers. In the original adaptation of the script, Brutus says: "Who is so vile among us that will not love his own country? If not, speak! I will crush him!"

Ucok's twist on the words had "crush" replaced by "clobber".

People

Julius Caesar is not only a portrayal of the elites' struggling for power, but also how this affects the common people.

Shakespeare obviously shares the view of 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche; people are simply part of a herd. They are easily manipulated and should be ruled by the more sophisticated members of the society.

The people who loved Caesar so much turned to hate him after Brutus explained the justification of his bloody act. They quickly changed their support to Brutus when they heard Anthony's persuasive speech.

"People, people," sighed someone while the rest of the audience laughed at how easily the common people were influenced. But were they merely laughing at the stage goings-on or were they laughing at themselves?

Julius Caesar was the biggest production ever by Teater Lembaga. It involved more than 70 actors and actresses. It could easily be the most expensive theater production ever.

Despite the huge pre-publicity behind Julius Caesar, its big commercial success was still a surprise. Unlike N. Riantiarno's Teater Koma or Rendra's Teater Bengkel, this group, which is a lab for Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) students and alumni, does not have loyal followers. Its 1995 production, Pusaran, an adaptation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, was very low key.

Some may argue the theme of succession also sparked the public enthusiasm and interest in this 22nd production of Teater Lembaga.

Indeed, Julius Caesar is suddenly this year's favorite production. Another theater group, Studiklub Teater Bandung (STB), is also staging its own production

After performing in Bandung, STB's Julius Caesar is now touring cities in Java and Bali. It will be in Jakarta on Sept. 9 and 10. It will be interesting to see how Jakartans receive this production, which is missing any big TV stars in its cast.