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’Wanodja Soenda’: An ode to unsung Sundanese heroines
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Politician Rieke Dyah Pitaloka plays Raden Rachmat'ulhadiah Poeradiredja or Emma Poeradiredja during a rehearsal of the monologue collection Wanodja Soenda at the Savoy Homann Ballroom, Bandung, West Java, on Jan. 28. (JP/Arya Dipa)
T
he Wanodja Soenda (Sundanese Women) monologues, held at the Savoy Homann Hotel in Bandung, West Java, on Jan. 29, celebrated three lesser-known woman leaders from West Java.
Of the three, Raden Dewi Sartika is the most familiar, while Raden Rachmat’ulhadiah Poeradiredja, also known as Emma Poeradiredja, and Raden Ayu Lasminingrat are not as well publicized as Javanese Raden Adjeng Kartini, whose photo once appeared on banknotes.
Wawan Sofwan, as director, had asked his three peers to rewrite the women’s theater scripts into monologues.
Wida Waridah handled the text for Emma, Endah Dinda Jenura for Dewi and Zulfa Nasrulloh for Lasminingrat.
“Our group, Mainteater Bandung, has a theater script bank. So, we asked the writers to convert their scripts into monologue texts, which didn’t take much time to compose. Originally there were four scripts for the event. The other was Siti Jenab, but there were only three players available,” said Wawan.
In presenting the three-part monologue, Mainteater Bandung collaborated with The Lodge Foundation, a non-government organization that focuses on Sundanese culture and education.
Mainteater Bandung was responsible for the concept of the show while The Lodge Foundation managed its production.
