'TVRI' to air Ratna Sarumpaet's 'Alia'
'TVRI' to air Ratna Sarumpaet's 'Alia'
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ratna Sarumpaet's Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah (Alia, Wound of
Serambi Mekah), a play lampooning injustices in Aceh, will be
aired on state-run TVRI on Dec. 15.
Performed by Teater Satu Merah Panggung, the replay will begin
at 11 p.m. and is aired in conjunction with the commemoration of
the International Human Rights Day.
Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah made its debut performance in May
2000 at Taman Ismail Marzuki. It marked the first theater
performance at that venue since the fall of the Soeharto regime.
The play was also performed in Surakarta, Tasikmalaya, Banda
Aceh, Semarang and Bandung.
This was a large step for playwright Ratna Sarumpaet, whose
previous works had often been banned for their content,
frequently in the form of direct criticism of the turmoil
allegedly caused by Soeharto's regime.
Ratna, the author as well as one of the play's performing
thespians, recently visited Aceh, the setting of Alia.
She said that the turmoil had altered the normally trusting,
friendly climate of the community to a common attitude of
distrust and fear due to the trauma of recent cases of violence
in Aceh in particular.
Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah is the tale of Alia, daughter of
Acehnese freedom fighter Cut Nyak. A rape victim of the conflict
occurring in Aceh, Alia refuses to let her spirit be broken.
Seeing that fear threatens to take over the lives of those in her
community, she rises up in rebellion.
However, Alia's rebellion is a nonviolent "moral rebellion",
in the form of exhuming the hidden bodies of those killed and
reburying them in accordance with local custom as a reverent
gesture of appreciation.
The supportive response to Alia's endeavors by the locals is
seen as a threat by the authorities, causing her greater
difficulty. Alia's father invites her to join the guerrilla
forces fighting for independence, but Alia refuses, standing firm
in her belief that the fight for independence is not merely for
land, but also for peace.
"The recent peace agreement between Aceh rebels and the
government ... should be celebrated by all civilians, for it
hopefully marks the beginning of the end of a violent time when
the most victimized people were civilians," Ratna said.