Teater Mandiri's 'Luka' to open Laokoon Festival
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.