Youtube Live with Felix K Nesi, Muhammad AB, Shinta Febriany, and Soe Tjen Marching
IDRF 2020: Manuscripts and language politics in theater
As the official language of the country, Indonesian is still the first choice of playwrights when they work on new plays. Presently, at the end of the year 2020, Indonesian is thus mainly used by actors after more than seven decades since the proclamation of the country’s independence. The fascinating question is this: which Indonesian language is used in modern theater manuscripts? Is it true that there is only one Indonesian language?
This year, due to the developments associated with the global pandemic, the Goethe-Institut Indonesien supports IDRF’s first ever online edition that will take place from 8 to 10 December 2020. Komunitas Kahe (Maumere) will present Al Galih’s
Malam Perak; Kolektif Kaleng Merah Jambu (Purwokerto) will present
Kamu dan Perasaan-perasaanku Yang Aduh by Said Riyadi Abdi; and Kala Teater (Makassar) will perform the reading of Utuy Tatang Sontani’s
Awal dan Mira.
For the last ten years the IDRF has focused on the development of theater manuscripts, but this year the festival explores the language medium used for reciting the manuscripts. The growing concern about the Indonesian language and language politics as well as the format of the event, which this time welcomes the participation of groups that do not come from Yogyakarta, seem to complement each other as a discourse and adaptation strategy to usher IDRF in a new era as a festival, the similar drastic change in our way of living that we have been experiencing since March 2020.
Utuy Tatang Sontani
Utuy Tatang Sontani, born 1920 in Cianjur, was a writer and playwright whose active career spanned 1948 into the 1960s. The figures in Utuy’s works represent conflicts caused by changes in social values over time. Utuy uses formal Indonesian in his plays. Among his well-known short plays are
Bunga Rumah Makan (1948),
Awal dan Mira (1951), and
Sayang Ada Orang Lain (1954).
SPEAKERS
Felix Nesi writes poems, fiction and essays for several newspapers in Indonesia. His short stories collection „Attempts to Kill Loneliness” was published in 2016. His novel „People of Oetimu” won the Jakarta Arts Council’s Biannual Competition in 2018.
Muhammad AB was born in Pati, Central Java, where he grew up. Today he works as a researcher and actor. He has been the director of the Indonesia Dramatic Reading Festival (IDRF) since 2019. In the theater world, he has worked as a producer, curator and organizer at various national and international events, including the Asia Playwrights Meeting (APM) 2019, a short presentation of Indonesian plays at the London Book Fair 2019, the Performance and Teater Nasional I Conference 2020, and LELAKON 2020, an attempt to collect and publish Indonesian screenplays organized by Kalabuku Publishing House in collaboration with the IDRF.
Shinta Febriany is the Artistic Director of Kala Teater, Makassar. In 2007 she was given the Celebes Award by the government in South Sulawesi for her commitment to theater. Shinta studied performing arts and fine arts at the Postgraduate School of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. As a theater director, screenwriter and poet, her works are known for challenging gender stereotypes, exploring physicality, and investigating contemporary urban problems in East Indonesia. Shinta is the chairperson of the Indonesian Theater National Association (Penastri).
Soe Tjen Marching is a writer, academic and composer. Her compositions have received numerous national and international awards. Soe Tjen has also published several novels and works of fiction in Indonesian and English. Her latest novel,
Dari Dalam Kubur, was published in 2020 by Marjin Kiri. She currently lectures in the Department of Language and Culture at SOAS University of London.
To event series: BINGKIS
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