Warisan Indonesia/Bhrahu Pradipto
Teater Koma returns. This time without Nano Riantiarno, the director. Instead, Nano’s eldest son, Rangga Riantiarno, staged the play of Antigoneo for the first time. The young man—who in the last Teater Koma’s performance played the role of Sie Jin Kwie—turned out to be his father’s copy in many ways. He is a good actor and a promising director. His debut in directing went amazingly well.
Just like his father, Rangga was detailed in conducting the actors. A well managed stage blocking, a neat vocal composition, the stage set in shape, a dynamic pace, with a sufficient dose of humors. And there was no ridicules or mockery of people. What they showed were a development of characters and an acrobat of dialogues.
Rangga has succeeded to keep the audience alert for the whole 2.5 hours staging in a steady rhythm. True that few people even snored, but it was not the performance fault. The cold room and the condition of those people might be the culprits. The show started weak since they had many young actors, but soon it was getting more and more solid.
Salim Said, a political observer who was once known as a movie critic and has served as an Indonesian Ambassador to Argentina, complained, how in the past we could see many officials attend theater performances in the Jakarta Art Building. Yet today, they are nowhere to be found. What kind of omen is this…
“And where are they now, the successors of Teater Kecil, Teater Populer, Bengkel Teater, and the rest,” he seemed concerned. He would definitely get the real answer after the show though.
We know Antigone as part of Sophocles trilogy on Oedipus’tragic life story. It was once staged by Rendra’s Bengkel Teater at the Open Theater of Taman Ismail Marzuki as a breathtaking and stirring performance. Nevertheless, this time Antigone was presented by someone called: Evald Flisar. The Slovenian writer has crafted the Greek classic into a modern situation titled Antigone Now. Rangga then adapted it to Antigoneo. (WI/Putu Wijaya)
— Full article is available on Majalah Warisan Indonesia Vol.01 No.11 —
