Teater Payung Hitam paints black picture of troubled Aceh

Teater Payung Hitam paints black picture of troubled Aceh

By Tuti Gintini

JAKARTA (JP): What can a dramatist do in the face of the harsh
realities in Aceh after the province was declared a military
operation zone (DOM)?

Just look at Teater Payung Hitam (Black Umbrella Theater) of
Bandung and its reflections of the tragedies befalling victims of
the military operation. The audience will see a display of
sadism, from beginning to end.

During the show, a woman in the audience whispered: "I feel
like vomiting."

In its performance on Tuesday of DOM -- And People Die, which
was part of the International Festival 2000 at the Jakarta Arts
House, the group began with a scene exploring violence symbolized
by human bones.

Playwright and director Rachman Sabur showed off his skill in
making use of symbolic stage props.

Bones are very effective in conveying messages, particularly
because the group has chosen to stage a play which basically is
nonverbal. In DOM -- And People Die, 12 players acted without
uttering a single word. Once in a while they would simply hiss,
cough, laugh or sob piteously.

The work, featuring Tony Broer, Rusli Keleeng, Deden Sutris,
Tatang Pahat, Rudiaman, Cep Kobar, Lala, Inong, Betty, Dian and
Yani M, was shaped like an album of photographs. The scenes, just
like an arrangement of photographs, contain numerous events. The
series of pictures have something in common: lots of victims,
lots of dead people. Therefore, the director has called this play
an album of black history.

Perhaps this is an album of the black history of the Acehnese.
Although the director never says DOM is an acronym for military
operation zone, but rather an abbreviation for Dan Orang Mati
(And People Die), the pictures, attributes and costumes of the
actors show the obvious role of the military in the deaths. Also,
scenes featuring the victims of gun violence seem to be an effort
to reconstruct what happened in Aceh when it was a military
operation zone.

Smiling Face

The background of the stage was filled with large posters
depicting men wearing rimless caps and others wearing military
uniforms. Then a number of actors appeared in dressed as
officials, all wearing the same mask: a smiling face, one the
audience became very familiar with during the 32 years of the New
Order regime.

It was this smiling face which during the performance was
pictured as the one giving instructions to the military; orders
which resulted in piles of bones. The shouts let out by mothers
and children losing their husbands and their fathers failed to
move the ruler.

Rachman Sabur was skillful in choosing the props for this
performance and he used them effectively. Desks and wheels, for
example, served many purposes. Also the bones, highly symbolic
and imaginative, were efficient used to establish the rhythm as
they were banged against each other to build a gripping
atmosphere.

Absurd and Contemporary

The only theatrical group that can be said to be continuing in
the tradition of Putu Wijaya's Mandiri Theater is Black Umbrella.
This group was established more than a dozen years ago. Rachman
Sabur is a graduate of the Indonesian Arts College in Bandung,
where he now teaches.

The result of following in the absurdist tradition of Putu is
that Black Umbrella is known only in small circles. An
entertaining play group, Teater Koma, for example, usually
performs before packed houses.

However, the choices Black Umbrella have consistently made
have allowed it to write its own history. In some communities,
the group is considered to have developed its own style. Also,
its productivity has confirmed its position as a contemporary and
absurdist theatrical group.

Social reality and harsh, cruel and sometimes vulgar and
sadistic criticism has been maintained as one of its
characteristics. Between 1997 and 1998, Rachman shocked the
theater world with his trilogy of Kaspar, Tin Music and
Holed Red, as well as Katakitamati (Ourdeadword). These works,
created just before and following the drive for reform, took a
sharp picture of the face of Indonesia.

In Tin Music and Holed Red, for example, Rachman attempted
to criticize unfair general elections and politicians too
generous with empty promises, like banging away inside an empty
can. For these plays, Rachman used as a symbol of these
politicians the sound of stones inside a large kerosene drum;
noisy and annoying.

In Ourdeadword, his criticism was much harsher. He stated in
this work that many people were very good at making speeches,
arguing, bragging and talking and talking without any action. The
air was packed with so many words that the words became dead and
meaningless.

The Black Umbrella's performance of Ourdeadword two years ago
is still relevant today. Many bureaucrats, many legislators and
many in the ruling elite simply talk and talk. They are good only
at demonstrating their skill at making speeches, bickering and
criticizing, while the people need concrete action, not just a
generous production of empty and meaningless words.

Black Umbrella has opted for a theatrical form far from simple
attempts to entertain the audience. This choice has proven
rewarding, for it led to it being invited to participate in the
De' Lyon International Theatrical Festival in 1997 and in an
international festival in Finland in 1998.

However, at home, the name Black Umbrella Theatrical Group may
ring strange. Furthermore, to be able to enjoy its performances,
one needs to possess a special understanding and to adjust one's
tastes. But, then, are such tastes really necessary at all?