(JP/Tarko Sudiarno)" border="0" height="341" width="512">(JP/Tarko Sudiarno)

What happens when superheroes, renowned for their heroic acts for those in need, cross over to the dark side and become corruptors?

Out of concerns about the rise in corruption, Yogyakarta’s popular theater troupe, Teater Gandrik, offers this twist in its upcoming play, Gundala Gawat (Gundala’s crisis), set to be staged at Jakarta’s Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center.

For the piece, which was first staged in Yogyakarta from April 16-17 before arriving in the capital, the troupe — renowned for its high element of comedy — collaborated with prolific writer Goenawan Mohamad who wrote the script for the play.

Goenawan, who has around 50 years of experience in the literary world and four decades in journalism, has become much more active in theater, working on numerous great plays that have further propelled his name.

And with Gandrik’s new play, inspired by the popular Gundala Putra Petir (Gundala the Son of Lighting) comic books created by Harya Suryaminata or Hasmi, he took up another challenge.

GM, as Goenawan is fondly known, realized the challenge when he received the offer to write the script from Teater Gandrik two years ago.

Gundala: (Courtesy of Teater Gandrik)He admitted he responded positively to the offer but was not without his own doubts, having to think it over and over before finally agreeing.

“Although Butet Kartaredjasa [of Teater Gandrik] once called me ‘a comedian who masquerades as a poet’, somewhere at the bottom of my heart I know that it’s not easy to write something that can make people laugh,” he says.

But doubts did not linger long in his mind. He had the experience of writing the play titled Visa for Teater Luqit, which was staged at Salihara Theater.

“At that time, I witnessed and felt how the audience laughed. Even a serious poet like Djoko Sapardji Damono was caught laughing out loud when watching the play. I then got rid of any doubts in my heart, telling myself, ‘Yes, you can’,” GM said.

He said that he was first aware of Gundala from his comic-fan son about 30 years ago.

“It was he who taught me to love local superheroes, especially Gundala who was created by Hasmi and Godam by Wid Ns. As my interest grew stronger in Indonesian superheroes, I also wrote a long essay, a study [on the issue], for Prisma magazine,” he says.

He added that in Gundala, he also saw parodic content. While he is a superhero, whose creator made him resemble Marvel’s Captain America, Gundala did not live in a big city like the American version but in quiet and peaceful Yogyakarta.

GM originally wrote the script in Javanese but then it was translated and enriched into Indonesian by Whani Darmawan, Agus Noor, Butet, Djaduk Ferianto and Hasmi himself.

For Gandrik, collaboration with a writer outside the troupe’s community is not a first. One of its plays, Sidang Susila (Susila’s Trial), was written by journalist-novelist Ayu Utami.

Djaduk, the play’s director and music arranger, said that working with GM had in a way created a challenge, such as in the process of cultivating the play.

“There must be enough space between actors and writers to tolerate the execution of artistic ideas. As you see, the scriptwriter must be willing and sincere when in the process, there have been some modifications made by Gandrik’s actors,” he says.

“Such creativity characterizes Gandrik’s creative process, further improving the aesthetic achievement known in our performing tradition.”

Since its establishment on Sept. 12, 1983 by Jujuk Prabowo, Heru Kesawa Murti, Susila Nugraha, Sepnu Heryanto and Novi Budianto, observers often describe Teater Gandrik’s performing style as sampakan, where the stage is used by the actors as their playground where they act freely but liquidly – creating no clear boundary between the “actor as a player” with “the character he plays”.

(JP/Tarko Sudiarno)

What happens when superheroes, renowned for their heroic acts for those in need, cross over to the dark side and become corruptors?

Out of concerns about the rise in corruption, Yogyakarta's popular theater troupe, Teater Gandrik, offers this twist in its upcoming play, Gundala Gawat (Gundala's crisis), set to be staged at Jakarta's Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center.

For the piece, which was first staged in Yogyakarta from April 16-17 before arriving in the capital, the troupe ' renowned for its high element of comedy ' collaborated with prolific writer Goenawan Mohamad who wrote the script for the play.

Goenawan, who has around 50 years of experience in the literary world and four decades in journalism, has become much more active in theater, working on numerous great plays that have further propelled his name.

And with Gandrik's new play, inspired by the popular Gundala Putra Petir (Gundala the Son of Lighting) comic books created by Harya Suryaminata or Hasmi, he took up another challenge.

GM, as Goenawan is fondly known, realized the challenge when he received the offer to write the script from Teater Gandrik two years ago.

Gundala: (Courtesy of Teater Gandrik)He admitted he responded positively to the offer but was not without his own doubts, having to think it over and over before finally agreeing.

'Although Butet Kartaredjasa [of Teater Gandrik] once called me 'a comedian who masquerades as a poet', somewhere at the bottom of my heart I know that it's not easy to write something that can make people laugh,' he says.

But doubts did not linger long in his mind. He had the experience of writing the play titled Visa for Teater Luqit, which was staged at Salihara Theater.

'At that time, I witnessed and felt how the audience laughed. Even a serious poet like Djoko Sapardji Damono was caught laughing out loud when watching the play. I then got rid of any doubts in my heart, telling myself, 'Yes, you can',' GM said.

He said that he was first aware of Gundala from his comic-fan son about 30 years ago.

'It was he who taught me to love local superheroes, especially Gundala who was created by Hasmi and Godam by Wid Ns. As my interest grew stronger in Indonesian superheroes, I also wrote a long essay, a study [on the issue], for Prisma magazine,' he says.

He added that in Gundala, he also saw parodic content. While he is a superhero, whose creator made him resemble Marvel's Captain America, Gundala did not live in a big city like the American version but in quiet and peaceful Yogyakarta.

GM originally wrote the script in Javanese but then it was translated and enriched into Indonesian by Whani Darmawan, Agus Noor, Butet, Djaduk Ferianto and Hasmi himself.

For Gandrik, collaboration with a writer outside the troupe's community is not a first. One of its plays, Sidang Susila (Susila's Trial), was written by journalist-novelist Ayu Utami.

Djaduk, the play's director and music arranger, said that working with GM had in a way created a challenge, such as in the process of cultivating the play.

'There must be enough space between actors and writers to tolerate the execution of artistic ideas. As you see, the scriptwriter must be willing and sincere when in the process, there have been some modifications made by Gandrik's actors,' he says.

'Such creativity characterizes Gandrik's creative process, further improving the aesthetic achievement known in our performing tradition.'

Since its establishment on Sept. 12, 1983 by Jujuk Prabowo, Heru Kesawa Murti, Susila Nugraha, Sepnu Heryanto and Novi Budianto, observers often describe Teater Gandrik's performing style as sampakan, where the stage is used by the actors as their playground where they act freely but liquidly ' creating no clear boundary between the 'actor as a player' with 'the character he plays'.

Gundala's creator Hasmi (right) and Sun Bo Kong. (JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
The play, which is supported by veteran actors, including Susilo 'Den Baguse' Nugroho, Butet, Jujuk Prabowo and several younger ones, will also present Gundala's creator, Hasmi, as himself.

The story begins with lightning striking various places, claiming a number of casualties in the process. Gundala, the Son of Lightning, is directly blamed and becomes the target of angry citizens. However, Gundala is innocent. Later on, it is not only the lightning, but also robbery.

Faced with the crisis, Hasmi gathers around a number of superheroes, from Sun Bo Kong (the apeman), Aquanus (the waterman), Pangeran Melar, the genie Jin Kartubi and X9.

Soon, people start questioning: who is the mastermind behind the disasters, can the superheroes protect the people, or maybe, the robbers themselves are actually superheroes in disguise to rake in personal profits? From the first minute, the play promises to deliver the message, while infusing it with Gandrik's signature humor here and there for their loyal fans to relish and wow new ones.

In Yogyakarta, the play has drawn positive response from the audience.

The play cleverly portrays the problems of this country and put it into one light, good entertainment, said Shinta Maharani who watched the performance of Teater Gandrik for the first time.  

Karen Strassler, an anthropologist from the United States who also watched the show, said she enjoyed the show very much although there are some parts that she couldn't understand due to language barrier.

'I just understood 30 percent of the dialogues, but the actors performed very well,' she said.

The success in Yogyakarta brings optimism to the group.

'If it's possible, we also want to perform in Surabaya,' said Djaduk.

Bambang Muryanto from Yogyakarta contributed to this report.

Gundala Gawat
April 26-27
Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki
Jl. Cikini Raya, No. 73, Central Jakarta
For information, call: 021 97359735, 083899715725 or 085693427788