Women issues brought to stage
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"Because I am a smart woman I choose to be a prostitute who is free, rather than be an enslaved wife."
The words came out of Firdaus, a battered and bitter woman in Nawal El Saadawi's novel Woman at Point Zero. These are also the words uttered by Nurul Arifin to the audience watching the adaptation of the novel into a play produced by Women's Solidarity group and friends.
Firdaus, meaning "paradise" in Arabic, was a beautiful prostitute who had killed a pimp and was awaiting execution when she told her story to Saadawi. Firdaus spins a tale of hatred toward men, who used and abused her, and of a world created by men's rules.
Although the novel was set in Egypt, the play alters the context to show that the problems faced by Firdaus are not indigenous to Egypt. The tragic story retold so brazenly by Saadawi is universal, a story of a woman in a man's world.
"Other than that, regardless of gender, it is about making choices and being brave about the choices we make," said the production's director, Daniel H. Jacob.
The play is produced in commemoration of Kartini Day on April 21. Kartini is acknowledged to be the women's liberator of Indonesia.
"She may be inferior compared to other female heroes like Tjut Nyak Dien and Maria Christina Tiahahu, but her struggle is specifically for women's issues. That made her special," Yeni Rosa Damayanti, women's activist and the play's production head, said.
Besides Nurul Arifin, another famous Indonesian actress, Ria Irawan, will co-star in the play as Sharifa Salah el Dine, a female pimp who first introduced Firdaus to the world of prostitution.
It was el Dine who taught Firdaus that in this male-dominated world, she must value herself and recognize her own beauty.
"Men don't know a woman's value, Firdaus. It is the woman who determines her own value. The higher you put a price on yourself, the more he realizes your true value, and he will be ready to pay with everything he has. And if he doesn't have it, he will steal from others to give you what you want," el Dine said in the story.
Sexual and physical abuse is performed in the form of a dance sequence choreographed by Madya Patra Rahadi, which is also supported by amateur actors and actresses like women activists, students, street musicians and children.
"There are plenty of them (scenes depicting sexual and physical abuse), and I try to present them without being vulgar," she said.
The play will be performed on April 20 and April 21 at Graha Bakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) arts center in Central Jakarta, at 8 p.m.
Tickets cost Rp 10,000 (US$1), Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 and can be bought at the Women's Solidarity group in South Jakarta, the student cooperative at the Faculty of Letters, University of Indonesia, Radio Sonora, Bengkel Deklamasi and through Jose Rizal Manua TIM bookstore. Tel: 79198275.