The scene opened with shadows of tanks and other symbols of war projected against the stage wall, followed by a series of explosions.

A postman (Whanie Dharmawan) then greeted the audience with a "Good evening". When the audience responded in a chorus of "Evening", the postman said, "Silly audience, you pay to watch this show, yet you still take our command."

Such was the opening of The Tot's Family adaptation, a play written by Hungarian Istv*n *rk*ny, which was performed by Yogyakarta theater group Gandrik. The play - performed earlier this month - was jointly directed by Jujuk Prabowo, Heru Kesawa Murti, Butet Kertaredjasa, Djaduk Ferianto and Agus Noor.

This first scene began with the Major's visit (Heru Kesawa Murti) to the Tots' house. The Tots consists of head of the family Lajos Tot (played by Susilo Nugroho), his wife Mariska Tot (Dyah Arum) and his daughter Agika Tot (Jami Atut Tarwiyah). His son, Corporal Giola, was at war, fighting in the frontline.

As Corporal Giola's superior, the Major was blissfully welcomed at the beginning of his visit. But problems emerged when the Major failed to act as a guest, imposing rules and banning what he disliked instead, such as certain smells or sounds. He even became angry with people taller than him. Worst of all, the Major's rules did not only apply to the Tots, but also to their neighbors.

The story evolved in a coherent way, with a simple and easy-to-follow plot, starting with the Major's visit, followed by a fight between people and the Tots dealing with the Major's attitude, and ending on a sweet and humorous note.

The actors playing the Tots, their neighbors and the postman showed off their admirable theatrical techniques, effortlessly moving around the stage, giving each other furtive glances, and overall injecting life into their characters.

Butet Kertaredjasa, one of the directors, said the challenge when performing this Istv*n *rk*ny play was interpreting this serious literature play without theater group Gandrik losing its comedy-inspired identity.

"The main theme of this play is how a power-holding character imposes kindness, villainy and uncertainty on people around him that they cannot question nor fight. Our challenge is to deliver this message without losing Gandrik's identity. It is truly a precious learning process for us," he said.

No wonder adjustments were made here and there to adapt the play to Gandrik's style. While the costumes were old-fashioned and European, actors exchanged jokes in Javanese every so often. The military troop, which was initially referred to as TNI - short for Indonesian Military or Tentara Nasional Indonesia - became Tentara Nasional I(h)ungaria. While most characters bore obscure Hungarian names, one of the Tots' neighbors, who happened to be a real Hungarian, was given a Javanese name. The audience laughed boisterously when one of the cast who was asked his name gracefully answered "Warsono".

For more than three hours, the audience enjoyed a very entertaining play, full of satire and of course unrivalled acting skills. Yet, some scenes lingered on with too many pauses. All in all, Gandrik showcased its true nature as a classic comedy troop, tightly covering deaths and the horror of wars, as told by Istv*n *rk*ny in his repertoire.

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