E

ach time the youth rise against social rules set by the elders, a drama begins.

Teater Bejana brought onto an open stage a performance titled Nonton Cap Go Meh (Watching Cap Go Meh) in Petak Sembilan Temple in West Jakarta on Saturday afternoon, amusing the public with acting, live music and Barongsai and Liong dances.

Nonton Cap Go Meh is a literary work by the late noted Chinese-Malay writer and journalist Kwee Tek Hoay, who is often dearly referred to as KTH. He received a cultural award from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year.

The performance, which earlier marked the Chinese New Year celebration, was a part of the Jakarta Biennale 2011, a biennial contemporary art festival in the capital city.

Set up in 1930s, the drama centered on Thomas and Lies, a married couple who wanted to watch Cap Go Meh, a celebration of the 15th day after the New Year.

Their wish crashed when their extended families forbid them to go out together because each was only to see members of their own families or friends of the same gender.

Fed up with the restrictive old-school social rule, Thomas decided to pretend to go out with a male friend who dressed up like woman. His action not only provoked the emotion of his parents-in-law, but also made his wife jealous. Lies tried to avenge his mischievous act by acting to go out with her female friend who pretended to be a man.

Troupe director Daniel Jacob said the script represented Kwee’s hopes well. The Bogor-born author expected the young generation to have modern thoughts as reflected in the young couple’s criticism of their parents.

“KTH inspired the Chinese-Malay community at his time. He delivered his criticisms, which hit the point in a witty way,” he told The Jakarta Post.

The lecturer from the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Culture said many people were not familiar with Chinese-Malay works because the literature genre had been left buried for more than 30 years when the late president Soeharto ruled the country.

“Most people only know that Chinese-Indonesians in the past were traders or business people. We should highlight this kind of Chinese-Malay literature because it also has much to contribute to literature and the world,” Daniel said.

He admitted that the performance on Saturday did not take on the entire script of the story. The complete version would be presented at the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ) playhouse in early February.

Bejana troupe previously staged the same play at Balai Sarbini Conventional Hall in 2004 and at GKJ in 2005.