Indonesian Theater within 65th Independence Day

I have known about theater, as a performing art, since I was an innocent boy. Firstly, I was very impressed by a musical drama so called Karnadi Anemer Bangkong the frog salesman, at a wedding ceremony, around Cicadas market, Bandung, West Java. Later, when I was a student of theater at Art College of Bandung, I knew that musical drama was written and composed by Koko Koswara, a Sundanese master composer.

There was a Sundanese Traditional Theater called Sri Murni, around Cicadas. It used regularly to perform some kind of plays which derived from Arabic, Indian, and Chinese circles. I don’t remember any title of these plays. As a boy, I would rather remained amazing by stage technical such as fighting arts, back drop painting, montage, and also facial make up, including mask.

I was addicted by the stage production. Every day on the way to my elementary school I saw a black board show up difference plays that will perform that night. Almost every Saturday evening I went to Sri Murni Theater, paid a half price ticket, took a seat before the stage, and watched the play until the curtain drop.

I was appointed to be a stage boy by the stage crew when there was a traditional theater troupe showed a classical drama at my village. I don’t remember who asked me to carry a small black board walking on bare foot around my village– on the board it was written, by colorful chalks, about story, date, and theater troupe presented—and along my way to show up the board there was also some musician behind me attracted people to see a walking announcement.

As its feedback, the stage crew said that I should not pay the ticket, rather I pleased to sit among the gamelan musicians, it mean I was the closest audience to the stage; they illustrate the theatrical event during performance, and shared some dinner with me at break time. I couldn’t enjoy the second half performance; I even didn’t know when the curtain dropped. I was very tired of wandered the whole day around my village; and the sound of gamelan composition was my lullaby.

I was graduated from elementary school in 1970. According to social and financial reasons, I myself should move to Tasikmalaya (about 4 hours drive from Bandung) to continue my studies there.

I didn’t have any opportunity to find traditional theater in Tasikmalaya because I should work every day for paying my school fee and daily need. I worked as a house servant every day, and it was more to do on Sundays, and I didn’t enjoy any holiday.

I must wake up earlier than my master; filled water into tub by handy water pump; swept and washed the whole floor; cleaned the glass window; cleaned some bikes; sprayed water on the house yard before sweeping it with a coconut rib broom. The master had three sons and a daughter, before breakfast, I should iron their school uniforms.

I worked harder on Sundays; I should wake up earlier too and after working in those routine activities, I should go to a market. Back from the market I should wash the whole clothes of this family, and after lunch, exactly after the clothes dry in the afternoon, I should iron them.

Holiday was horrible; it seized my youth and dragged me into slavery. The master ordered me on every holiday to be his carpenter, and he was a furniture hand maker. I should help him to cut any hard wood by manual saw or made a hole by manual drill and also I should paint his house. I can tell you that he hated if I was being relax! [And I can tell you that the whole wooden material at his house was my painting, and it still remained the same although it was passed about 40 years!] Nobody replaced my work!

I didn’t get any financial contribution from my parent for almost six years. For survival and belief, I should only work hard and study. And it was also happened for six years.

At the same time, I think, I was also an actor, a real actor. I played a role, a true role.

At my master home, I acted as a good, loyal and obedience servant. I should make up my inner emotion in balance; I should manage my time to keep my energy; and I should be a pitch penny to save my fund.

At school I acted as a diligent, smart, and intelligent student. All of my friends didn’t know if I was only a servant. I enjoyed to appreciate the way of life of my friends. They were possessive and hedonist.

They used to show up their bikes; showed up each other about their properties such as watches, shoes, jeans, and leather belts.  I enjoyed laughing at them by heart: they were stupid, because they exposed those products their parent bought. I did never show them up my own goods yet I bought them by my own sweat and tears!

I was graduated from grade XII in 1977 and I had my own freedom of slavery when I leave this house of rising fund. In 1978 I found some student theater clubs in Tasikmalaya; I didn’t attend any clubs to be a member. These clubs seemed to be exclusive, closed, and arrogant to other people, but they were collapse in piece after performing only one production. I was a monolog actor and performed some improvisation plays around the town.

In 1978 I worked at a dam project at Jatiwangi, Majalengka, West Java, as a surveyor helper, and my boss was a German and French. On Sundays I off and spent my free time watching Topeng Cirebon, Tarling and also Masres around Cirebon (about 3 hours from Jatiwangi). If I had a long holiday, I also watched Wayang Cepak in Cirebon.

Topeng or Kedok literally means a mask in English, and Cirebon is a residence in the border of West and Central Java. Topeng Cirebon, actually means a folk dance theater in which the actor and actress wear difference mask in shape and color. Tarling is a short of Gitar (guitar) and Suling (flute), and it is a traditional musical drama, derived from Cirebon and Indramayu residence as well. Masres is a folk theater also comes from Cirebon and Indramayu residences. Wayang Cepak is a rod flat puppet show; compare to Wayang Golek a rod puppet show of Sundanes, Wayang Cepak is based on Islamic history but Wayang Golek based on Indian epics.

Topeng Cirebon usually performs on the ground, it represents a drama based on Panji circle, mostly spends the whole day; comare to Wayang Cepak, it performs in a whole night. Tarling performance likes a romantically musical drama in Cirebon’s local lyrics. It usually represents domestic problem though the real story was based also on Panji Circle. They use acoustic and electric (melody, rhythm, and bass) guitar in diatonic tones.

Masres is a traditional theater performs on a large stage at a whole night with theatrical and spectacular stage techno, especially in an importance event. According to the story, these finger instruments sometimes also used in Masres play.  Most instruments they used are bronze gamelans and some pretty woman singers. The play they represent usually derived from oral history. Masres, as the other folk and traditional theater, does never use any text; the play they produce being told briefly by the “director” at a short improvisation rehearsal, even prompted at the stage.

When Gertz (I don’t remember his family name), my German Boss, knew my activity on holiday, he interested to join my regular trip to watch Cirebonese and Dermayon theaters, but it was not long. I moved to Bandung after working hard for nine months.

In 1981 I became a student of theater at Bandung Art College and attended some theater groups. Here I found a lot of text and theory about drama and theater. The books came from abroad and were sent by foreign cultural centers in Bandung or Jakarta the capital city. I also met some importance local theater directors and theater group owners, there were also some good actors and actress.

While studying as a theater student, I also earned money as a freelance journalist; I especially wrote about theater performances produced by these local groups; I also earned money as a translator or interpreter and guided some foreign travelers. I should work to fulfill my school fee; I spent a lot of time out side the college, mostly on the stage (as an  theatergoer, photographer, and writer) and sometimes as a ham actor.

There was not any professional actor in Bandung; theater was not a source of occupation; actor could not earn money from any productions; it was just like a hobby and the producer could only “pay” the actor with a box of rice on every rehearsal and a T-shirt (the play production wrote down on it) at the post-production.

Director or play producer should sent a proposal to get a small money from any foreign cultural attaché; it means that they should compare between the playwright and the country; but the most responsive attaché to support fund was German and France yet their financial always enough for production only. Theater was not an ideal source for making money. And I involved in “modern” theater in Bandung for more than ten years, but I dare to say that Indonesian theater didn’t get any financial profit except spiritual experience for the activists.

17^th August 2010 will be the 65^th Anniversary of Indonesian Independence Day but for this old age there is not importance improvement in Indonesian theater; or in artistic work neither in professionalism. Indonesian theater seems to be a weird stranger at all. Nobody like it and nobody know it as well.  Indonesian theater activists then should stand still in an exclusive milieu with selective supporters around. Poverty follows the shadow of Indonesian (traditional and “modern”) theater.