Teater Mandiri focuses on reality
Stevie Emilia, Jakarta
In marking its 33rd anniversary, Teater Mandiri theater group is choosing to celebrate the old fashioned way -- by staging a play -- while not forgetting the realities around it.
Unrelenting conflicts and jostling for power in the name of peace, justice, truth and humanity are everywhere, spiraling into an infernal war.
Here it shows itself in ethnic and religious fanaticism, prompting a wave of conflicts that chip away at unity. It seems like there is no therapy that works since in the traumatic process, especially for those who have long suffered under the pressure of the economic crisis.
This reality will be brought to the stage through Zoom, a play by the group's founder Putu Wijaya. Parts of the play have been staged in the past by the group in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hong Kong to a warm reception.
"And to celebrate Teater Mandiri's 33rd anniversary, we will stage it for the first time here in Jakarta," Putu said.
The play will be performed at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) arts center in Cikini, Central Jakarta, this Friday and Saturday.
It will be presented in Teater Mandiri's trademark style of visual essays, against the backdrop of an ever-present canvas screen to deliver the playwright's ideas to the audience.
First set up in 1971 to fill in TV drama slots with its first play Orang-Orang Mandiri (Independent People), the troupe evolved to performing at Taman Ismail Marzuki in 1974 with Aduh (Ouch) and then Anu (Um...).
The theater group then staged more plays, experimenting in the process but still keeping to its trademark one-word titles. It staged plays without scripts like Lho, Entah (Don't Know) and Nol (Zero), accentuating more music and visual images. They then went back to using scripts, coming up with plays like Edan (Mad), Aum (Roar) and Front.
Their experiment with visual images, and shadows, started when the group staged Yel (Yell), while touring the U.S. in 1991.
First the images were black and white, and then also in color. At times, the images blended with slides. And they are still working with visual images, bringing their plays to many countries.
"The response in other countries is so good that we feel we're important. But whenever we play at home, we find our audience and critics complain, saying they are bored and tired of it. They curse us for continuing to use screens and shadows. They don't care that it has become our 'idiom'. They want something they call new," Putu said.
The aim of Teater Mandiri performances, according to Putu, was to create "mental terror", thereby creating an atmosphere which makes someone reconsider what they their consider firm and concrete beliefs.
"(We're not only) offering recipes or leading (someone into something), but to make people ngeh (understand)," he said.
For Zoom, directed by Putu himself, the cast includes seasoned performers such as Yanto Kribo, Alung Seroja, Ucok Hutagaol, Wendy Nasution, Fien Herman, Bei, Chandra Iksan and Bung Kardi. Harry Roesly and DKSB band will be in charge of music.
"It seems like yesterday we were practicing... But the age of 33 is not a guarantee to legitimate an existence. The history of each person is destined to be different. What we have to do is not to compare the history but to write it down accurately, based on the right perspective.
"That's what I am doing now, how to make people see the matter from different a perspective."
i-box:
Zoom Teater Mandiri Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) arts center Cikini, Central Jakarta 8 p.m. May 14-15 Tickets: Rp 50,000 and Rp 30,000