Teater Mandiri's 'Luka' to open Laokoon Festival
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Putu Wijaya's Teater Mandiri will open the Laokoon Summer Festival in Hamburg, Germany from Aug. 22 to Aug. 24, with a production called Luka (scar).
The invitation to open the festival came from Laokoon Festival's curator, Hidenaga Otori, who saw the theater group's performance at the Asia Theater Festival in Tokyo in 2000.
"We are very honored the curator has invited us to perform for the opening of the Laokoon festival. We will leave on Aug. 17 for Germany," Putu Wijaya said, in a media conference here on Wednesday.
The production has also been staged in Brunei, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and at home, at the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ), in March last year.
Luka is based on a monologue The Coffin is Too Big for the Hole by famous Singaporean playwright Kuo Pao Kun. The production will explore wayang (shadow puppet theater) using a huge cloth screen as a backdrop.
"It will be like a wayang performance with a minimum number of words but rich in visualization," Putu said, explaining that a narrator will relate the story in German prior to the show to fill the audience in on the background.
Luka tells of a funeral procession of a grandfather who is to be buried in a coffin bigger than the allowed standard, and therefore bigger than the hole in the ground in which it is to be interred.
The grave diggers are unable to increase the size of the hole because it would mean risking the collapse of the next grave.
After appealing and threatening the authorities, the grandfather is buried in a big coffin together with that of a small boy in a large common grave.
"The authority figure in the story is later voted the most humane personality, but the story implies the authority figure only listens after being threatened," Putu explained, adding that in his version of the story it is expanded to show the reality of Indonesian politics.
Luka will be performed by Putu Wijaya himself along with members of Teater Mandiri; Wendy Nasution, Yantho Kribo, Alung Seroja, Ucok Hutagaol, Bambang Ismantoro, Agoy Sabarwati, Soegianto Sastrodiwiryo, Roejito, Corin Danu Asamara, Cobina Gillit and Dewi Pramunawati.
Harry Roesli's music, including a song titled Jangan Menangis Indonesia (Don't Cry Indonesia) will accompany the performance.
"Harry Roesli has supported us from the start. He composes the music for the performance like he is translating the choreography into music," Putu said.
Teater Mandiri is also currently preparing a production titled War to be performed in Kyoto at the end of the year.
The Laokoon Festival is a two-week showcase for contemporary theater and dance produced and organized by Kampnagel Hamburg, one of the leading independent centers for performing arts in Europe.
During the past 20 years, Kampnagel has built up a reputation as a highly acknowledged platform for experimental theater, dance, performance and music.
The artists who have performed at Kampnagel range from young experimental artists to renowned names of world theater, such as Peter Brook, Rosas, Pina Bausch, Robert Wilson, Robert Lepage, Arianne Mnouohkine and Dumb Type.