Abstract

In July 1975, Indonesian playwright/director W. S. Rendra’s Bengkel Teater (Theatre Workshop) performed Rendra’s own play, Kisah perjuangan suku Naga (The Struggle of the Naga Tribe, 1975) in Jakarta’s Taman Ismail Marzuki performing arts complex to large, appreciative audiences (Lane 1979: xxv). This play was interesting not only because it offered a thinly veiled critique of some of the then New Order government elite’s development policies and attitudes, but also because, through the presence in the dramatis personae of a ‘dalang’ (puppeteer) who incorporated aspects of the wayang kulit (shadow theatre) puppeteer and clown figures, as well as a dramatic structure that paralleled that of a traditional wayang play, Rendra’s work embodied a growing trend in modern Indonesian theatre to ‘indigenize’ contemporary theatre performances. In fact, Rendra (1935-2009) had been leading the way in incorporating elements of Indonesia’s traditional theatres into modern, western-style theatrical performance for several years prior to The Struggle of the Naga Tribe, including Oedipus Rex (1969), influenced by traditional Balinese dance-dramas and rituals, Waiting for Godot (1970), using the sense of humour found in traditional folk drama, and Macbeth (1970), in which the actors performed in Javanese surjan shirts (Gillitt 2001: 159).

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