Friday, October 12, 2018

Pesta Boneka #6: Pertemuan kembali

Photo: Instagram @pesta_boneka
Hi!
Kali ini, saya pengen cerita tentang Pesta Boneka #6 dan pertemuan saya kembali dengan festival ini.

Sekilas cerita tentang Pesta Boneka dan bagaimana kami bisa terlibat di dalamnya, jadi di tahun 2014, saya Rangga dan Ditto merayakan ulang tahun Ditto dengan mengunjungi Pesta Boneka #4 yang diadakan bulan Desember 2014. Saat itu adalah pertemuan pertama saya dengan dunia teater boneka dan juga acara yang sangat menyenangkan ini. Bahkan kami jadi berkenalan dengan penonton setia Papermoon yaitu Mba Anggun, Mba Vic, dan Mba Iin yang waktu itu bantu menjaga stand merchandise. Hampir selama 3 hari acara, kami akan menunggu pertunjukan selanjutnya di booth merchandise Papermoon bersama mba - mba ini.

Lalu pada tahun 2015 awal, Rangga membentuk kelompok teater boneka bernama Flying Balloons Puppet yang sampai saat ini kami jalankan bersama. Di awal tahun tersebut, Rangga dan saya berkenalan dengan Papermoon. Rangga banyak berkomunikasi dan berdiskusi tentang teater boneka dengan Papermoon. Hingga pada tahun 2016, Flying Balloons Puppet berkesempatan menjadi bagian dari Pesta Boneka #5 dengan tema “Home”. Kalau ingat lagi, “Home” tema pesta boneka 2 tahun lalu menjadi sedikit tanda bahwa kami sedang dalam perjalanan kembali ke rumah (dalam hal ini teater boneka) dan bagaimana festival tahun tersebut membentuk kami yang sekarang. Ada ucapan yang menarik yang diucapkan Mba Anggun, dari groupies menjadi peserta Pesta Boneka. Menarik karena, pertemuan dua tahun lalu membawa kami kembali menjadi bagian dan penampil di Pesta Boneka #5.

Pesta Boneka #5 menjadi batu loncatan dan juga pijakan pertama kami untuk serius menggeluti seni pertunjukan ini. Terutama untuk saya pribadi yang tidak memiliki latar belakang teater. Pesta Boneka #5 menjadi panggung kedua saya sebagai pemain boneka. Bahkan sejak saat itu kami sebagai grup lebih bergairah dalam menekuni bidang ini karena kami menemukan rumah kami. Pada Pesta Boneka #5 kami membawakan pertunjukan berjudul “NATUH” yang sangat minim secara bentuk (menurut saya pribadi, pertunjukan yang cukup buruk). Momen tersebut membuat NATUH berkembang sampai saat ini dan bahkan sudah dipentaskan 7 kali. Kalau bukan karena Pesta Boneka #5, saya yakin ceritanya akan jadi cukup berbeda terlepas dari dukungan yang datang dari berbagai pihak setelah itu di tahun berikutnya.

Photo: Instagram @pesta_boneka

Saya pribadi sangat excited akan mengikuti Pesta Boneka untuk kedua kalinya sebagai peserta tahun ini. Pesta Boneka #6 akan dimulai sejak hari ini tanggal 12 Oktober 2018 hingga 14 Oktober 2018. Flying Balloons Puppet akan membawakan cerita tentang Sori dan pertemuannya dengan mahluk penunggu sungai bernama Lembuna. Kami berkolaborasi dengan seorang seniman teater boneka asal Australia bernama Gwendolyn Knox. Saya akan membuat entri blog sendiri tentang proses bersama Gwen untuk pertunjukan ini. Cerita tentang Sori dan Lembuna kami angkat dari mitos yang berkembang di Brebes tentang penunggu sungai Pemali. Kami ingin menceritakan kembali mitos dengan sudut pandang dan cara yang berbeda. Hal yang menarik dari pertunjukan ini adalah kami akan mementaskannya di sebuah kolam kering yang terletak di pinggir sawah. Untuk tahu bagaimana pertunjukan kami, jangan lupa untuk hadir minggu sore ya.

Sampai jumpa di hari Minggu, 14 Oktober 2018 jam 4 sore di Desa Kepek, Bantul teman - teman!

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Puno: Letters to the Sky, the kind of performance you wish to watch only once in your lifetime

Photos: Instagram @papermoonpuppet


Hi! It's been a little since the last time I write something here and I missed it.

It might be a little bit late for me to review a performance by Papermoon Puppet Theatre entitled Puno: Letters to the sky. But, let me try to express how I feel and experience after I watched this performance.

When you read the title, you might guess two things, the performance is not worth to watch or is it too bad to watch. I know I am not an expert when it comes to reviewing performance, especially theatre. But, I feel like I need to express myself in a certain way. I need to remind you that this review has no basis a.k.a it is a personal review. I have no background in theatre critics or such. I am just an ordinary audience stunned by this performance.

I knew Papermoon from Rangga. We watched Pesta Boneka #4 in 2014 to celebrate Ditto’s birthday. It is my first encounter with puppet theatre. I never watched Papermoon’s performance before, except the one in Pesta Boneka #5 when it collaborates with Thai’s puppeteer Jae. Rangga has watch it several times. In this performance, Rangga involved as additional puppeteer and join the tour in Southeast Asia before Puno finally came back and perform in Jogja.

I cannot wait to watch it! When the ticket was sell for the first day, I plan to go and bought the ticket by myself. Before, we arrived there, I saw that the ticket already sold out. Dang! It was fast!
I guess I am lucky, Rangga got one free invitation for me. Yaaas~ I could finally watch Papermoon.

The performance was held for about 5 days included the general rehearsal and media preview. After I got back from work, I would go there to wait for Rangga. Everyone asked me, am I going to watch Puno on that day or not. I said, I will watch it the last performance on the last day. I am not prepared for it to be honest.

The day I had been waiting finally come, I got a little bit nervous after I ordered a ride and on the way to the venue. You know that feeling when you are going to face your fear. That is how I feel. When I arrived at IFI, there was already a line of people queueing to enter the auditorium. I got the middle seats, the perfect spot to watch it. The show started.

Photo: Instagram @papermoonpuppet


It was begin with a part where Puno (the father) and Tala (the daughter) walking around and buy an ice cream. The scene is sweet and funny. But I did not laugh, at all. I was so nervous waiting for the scenes come one after the other. I thought and said to myself, enjoy it, do not expect anything, just be there. I could enjoy it but once the moment when Puno cooked dinner for Tala, tears starting to build and I could smell my dad’s fried rice. I said in my mind “sh*t, this can’t be happening this earlier. I expect some tears will running down but not this early”. I am not going to tell every scene from this performance here, because I am not trying to make a comprehensive review on how it is but rather how I feel and think about it.

I swear to God, I will never watch it again. Once is enough for me to feel all the flood of feelings and memories that fleeting from every scene in Puno. If you expect the glamorous and fantastical performance, you will be disappointed by Puno. I tell you why, the performance was so simple, no big and extravagant surprises. But, that is the strength of this performance, it brings you to daily tasks and activities you experience in your life. It makes a connection with you without having to think so much about what is going on or what is this performance trying to tell you about.

Papermoon is really capable to deliver such a delicate performance. It does not need a big stage to awed you, because that is not what they meant to do. They want to touch you right to your heart. For me, it was like hit me right to my deepest heart. Losing someone is never been a pleasant experience and each one of us has its own defense mechanism to deal with it. The topic is so close to us, close to me to be exact. I lose a lot of great people in my life. I lose my best friend when I was in junior high because of cancer. I lose my dad when I was in high school and I was there with him when he took his last breath and that freaking machine start to create a long beep sound. That was a nightmare to heard it, but I realize I am trying so hard to stand on my feet. Puno reminds me of that moment. I am crying really hard and trying not to make any sound.

Bravo and standing applause for Papermoon who gave and delivered such a performance. Thank you for all the team and the puppeteer who works really hard everyday to give us a gift after watching the show. The gift is for me, memory of losing someone is always there, waiting to come around, but there are way greater things that will happen. Because the one who left us will always be watching us.

After I watched and finished all the tears. I questioned myself, I sat alone and silent for the rest of the night. Remembering the loved ones and thinking how performance could do that to us. What is exactly the point of making performance? Is it a way for us to reminding all the things that happen in our life? Or is it a medium to tell story that we try to hid for such a long time. I think the performers always know by heart why they doing it, right?

I am still wondering how amazing it was to be able to share story and memory with people we never meet before through performance.

I guess, that is all what I want to tell.

Hasta pronto!

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