Theater performances sluggish despite no banning

Theater performances sluggish despite no banning

JAKARTA (JP): No banned theater performances but this year's activities were sluggish, albeit interspersed with some good performances.

Putu Wijaya's Geer, staged at the Schouwburg festival was certainly among the best productions. With his group Theater Mandiri, Putu staged Geer, a tragicomedy on the death and resurrection of the eponymous protagonist and snobbery in his family.

The play, which Putu himself wrote and directed, was first performed here in l982. In l985, the play was staged in Madison, Wisconsin, the United States, under the title Geez.

The theme of the play focuses on an individual's struggle for freedom against the desires of corrupt people in a world where material wealth and powerful position hide a thousand flaws.

In Geer which literally means roar or laughter, Putu has succeeded in depicting human anguish with techniques commonly used for comedy, thereby letting the audience easily digest the difficult theme of the play while enjoying it as an entertaining show.

Although Putu's presentation was not as good as his previous works, he was, at least, willing to help develop the country's performing arts.

Another performance was Teater Koma's Cinta yang Serakah (Greedy Love), the company's 79th production.

It centers around the family of Triadi, the owner of several large companies who never hesitates to justify his means of amassing more wealth.

In Cinta yang Serakah, playwright/director Nano Riantiarno tried to focus on serious dialog and a sparing use of skits to criticize human greed and hypocrisy, as well as more down-to- earth acting and character portrayals.

Despite his great efforts to remain true to realistic drama, the audience may well have found the influence of Bertolt Brecht's "epic theater" style, where members of the audience are left to grapple with emotionless acting, exhausting.

In April, playwright Ratna Sarumpaet and her group Satu Merah Panggung, staged Terpasung (Shackled), at Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center. The play portrays the trauma and suffering of a rape victim while protesting the male-dominated criminal justice system.

Ratna has long been pondering women's rights issues and the problems of a traditional society where men assume more dominant roles. Despite some awkward performances and the absence of experienced actors, except for Ratna, the play was well presented.

A number of theatrical performances and monologues also appeared at the November Festival. Teater Kubur and poet Danarto presented Mengembalikan Kegembiraan Berpolitik. Ikranegara and Abubakar from Teater Saja also presented some of their works, but Teguh Karya failed to perform anything.

In October, Indonesian theater aficionados held the 11th National Theater Forum in Taman Budaya Jawa Barat (West Java Cultural Center) in Bandung.

The meeting, as usual, was attended by numerous prominent theater figures such as Putu Wijaya, W.S. Rendra, Jacob Sumardjo, Tatiek Maliyati, Suyatna Anirun, Sapardi Djoko Damono.

About 25 theater groups from several provinces including West Java, Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi used the gathering as a showcase for their theatrical endeavors.

Some theater observers and critics from neighboring countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines also participated in the event.

The gathering brought together theater people, government officials and those involved in the performing arts to tackle age-old problems that have been hampering the development of theater in Indonesia.

The theater community hoped the government would stop banning their creations. Complex and confusing bureaucratic procedures often prevent local theater groups from developing as they might wish. Unclear regulations over the issuance of permits for various performing arts also cloud theater stages in the country.

Continual financial support from the government as well as the private sector is also needed to boost theater activities in the country.

In an era when the entertainment industry is dominated by Hollywood films, radio and television programs and video games, many people find theater less amusing and as a result audiences are often limited.

Theater groups need a lot of money to produce and perform plays. Sponsors are rarely found as they do not want to risk their money on theater activities, especially those which explore social and political issues.

Professional theater groups based in Jakarta like Nano Riantiarno's Teater Koma, Putu Wijaya's Teater Mandiri and Teguh Karya's Teater Popular have to work hard to finance their productions, to say nothing of theater groups in provincial areas.

The theater meeting discussed these problems and the committee has set up special campaigns to encourage the development of theater companies in provincial areas which are badly in need of artistic as well as financial and managerial improvements.

The government and art institutions in the country have promised to provide these provincial theater groups with training and scholarships.

Other plans include holding annual regional-scale theater festivals in each of the country's 27 provinces to provide forums for local artists to perform their own creations.

The skeptics, however, thought the plans would not work properly since the previous theater meetings had always produced a heap of suggestions but hardly any follow-up action. (raw)