'Tiga Dara', better on screen than on stage

Ida Indawati Khouw, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Love never dies. In movies or theater, love prevails as the most popular theme. But what if two sisters are in love with the same man?

Recently, film lovers were entertained with the story of a love triangle through Hollywood production About Adam starring Kate Hudson and Stuart Townsend, but here, the theme was popularized 50 years ago in Tiga Dara (Three Girls), a movie by legendary director Usmar Ismail (1921-1971). Back then, Usmar managed to avoid the soap opera-like plot common to television series.

Produced in 1956, Tiga Dara gained much public attention in its heyday. Older generations still recall how the film was aired for weeks at movie theaters including Capitol in the Pintu Air area and Metropole, now Megaria on Jl. Diponegoro, both in Central Jakarta.

The movie was a light one for Usmar, who usually made serious films. Tiga Dara garnered him an award for music illustration during the 1960 Indonesian Film Festival.

The story was brought to the stage by Gardanalla theater from Yogyakarta on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 at I See gallery and Teater Dalam Gang Tuti Indra Malaon, both in Central Jakarta, respectively.

Tiga Dara is centered on three sisters, Nunung, Nana and Nenny -- in the movie version they were played by Chitra Dewi, Mieke Wijaya and Indriati Iskak respectively.

In the play, Nunung (Maria Kristi Harum Rosari), the oldest but most introvert among them, has yet to meet Mr. Right although she's already 29.

The grandmother (Anna Roswita) -- who takes care of the sisters after their mother passes away, together with the girls' father Sukandar -- worries and tries hard to find the right match for Nunung. She intends to match Nunung with Sutoto (Elva Tri Anung Novadewa).

Unfortunately, younger sister Nana (Lia Manullang) is attracted to Sutoto although another man, Herman (Abdul Hakim Duma Harahap), has fallen for her.

The storyline is colored by humorous dialogue as Nunung, who is actually in love with Sutoto can do nothing when Nana pursues him.

Like most love stories, it ends happily thanks to the youngest sister Nenny (Maria Tri Sulistyani) and Sukandar (Antonius Puguh Winarso) who finally brings Nunung and Sutoto together, while Nana returns to Herman.

Adapting the movie into a play performed in a small square room of I See gallery at the Polish Cultural Center indeed needed creativity. For this, 25-year-old director Joned Suryatmoko deserves praise for his success in adapting outdoor scenes into indoor dialogs like when Nana learns to ride a motorbike with Sutoto in her effort to win his heart. The scene only featured motorbike sounds and some dialog.

Another strong point of the play is in the neat live music illustration.

But the actors, mostly university students, still need to "polish" their acting. Maria, in her role as the spoiled and childish Nenny, over acted while Lia and Nana were more rigid in their acting. Maria Kristi was also less expressive in her role as introvert Nunung.

In some sequences, the actors also seemed nervous but thankfully, the humorous dialog managed to draw laughs from the audience, such as when Sutoto tried to seduce Nunung or when Nenny tried to get involved in her older sisters' love affairs.

Director Joned admitted after the show that he had to change some of the details of the story for the play. For instance, he chose to make Nunung return home from her "exile" in Bandung to make her grandmother's efforts to match her with the son of a family friend possible. In the original version, it was the family members who picked up Nunung in Bandung.

"I found it difficult to change the stage to a Bandung set so I changed the details of the story," said Joned, who maintained the style of the 1950s movie icons with his actors' dress, hairstyle and high heels.