Relevant From Time To Period, Popular Theater Shows DG DIG DUG Lacon

JAKARTA - After a long hiatus, the Popular Theater group was again completed by presenting a script by Putu Wijaya, entitled Dag Dig Dug. This performance will be handled by a seasoned director and actor and one of the founders of the Popular Theater, Slamet Rahardjo Djarot. The performance, which was also presented by the Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation in collaboration with the AP Production, will be staged on Saturday, January 25, 2025 and Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 19.00 WIB at the Salihara Theater, Jakarta.

The Popular Teater, which has been established since 1968, is one of the important milestones in the history of performing arts in Indonesia and it is important for us to support it so that the Popular Theater can continue to be creative in preserving meaningful cultural and artistic values for the people of Indonesia. The Dag Dig Dug Lacon was first staged by the Popular Theater in 1977 and has been displayed with various inspiring approaches in recent decades. The performance of this play by the Popular Theater as well as re-celebrating Putu Wijaya's work which is not only entertaining, but also raising the thoughts and feelings of the audience," said Renitasari Adrian, Djarum Foundation's Culture Bakti Program.

This drama captures human life, through an elderly husband and wife but is not blessed with children and manages an boarding house in their big house. The problem arose when a telegram was obtained that one of the students who had boarding houses at home was a person who was known to be kind, named Chaerul Umam - died when he was hit in an accident on the road. The husbands were devastated by Chaerul Umam's death, but also pretended to know the student well.

The problem began to arise when two envoys brought compensation but it turned out that the amount was not the same as the one stated in the receipt. Not only that. Conflicts also arise about what the funds will be used for. Suspicion, anger, emotion, suffering, sticking out through small disputes and rows between the two of them and those around them, among them are housemaid figures who have always been oppressed by their employer, namely Cokro. Dag Dig Dug is a play-up script by Putu Wijaya which is timeless.

Slamet Rahardjo made small changes from the original script, but still displayed the spirit of the main story. He made up to six revisions.

"For me, theater is home and this performance brings me back to my home, theater. Age is a gift and I don't want age to be an obstacle, because as a theater player, I memorize 47 pages. Dag Dig Dug displays various situations that make his connoisseurs reflect, laugh bitterly, face the kind of chaos that is happening in humans and their surroundings. Dialogue is sometimes without a baseline and feels partially told not to co-stars, but to the audience, more precisely to the current situation. This play is very relevant to the current situation, isn't it that we have often been nervous lately?" said Slamet Rahardjo Djarot, Director of Dag Dig Dug who also played the role of Father in this performance.

Slamet Rahardjo performed with Niniek L. Karim bringing about the main role of the elderly. It was not coincidental that the two had been involved in the same play, as well as that played by the Popular Theater, in 1977 at Taman Ismail Marzuki, and directed also by Slamet Rahardjo. At that time both were still 28 years old. That is, they returned to the same stage and play, after 48 years later.

"I accept this acting challenge, not only because the script is interesting, but also my respect for Teguh Karya, as the founder of the Popular Theater. If not for him, I would not be like now," said Niniek L. Karim, who is also known as a lecturer at the UI Faculty of Psychology, who won various awards for the best actress at the FFI event.

In addition to featuring veteran actors and actresses, Slamet Rahardjo and Niniek L. Karim, this performance also presented actors Reza Rahadian, Donny Damara, Jose Rizal Manua, Kiki Narendra, and Onkar Sadawira. The Dag Dig Dug was produced by Paquita Wijaya and Samuel Wattimena, with co-producer Taba Sanchabakhtiar. This performance can also be carried out with support from Java Pos, IN Time, Bluebird, and Saiayu Martha Tilaar. This performance is Paquita Widjaja's debut as a producer. He, who started his career in the arts as a vocalist in 1980, and then starred in a number of films, of course, will never forget the drama produced by the Popular Theater, in the final period of Teguh Karya Berkarya, namely Gelas jewelry, a saduran play from Tennesse Williams, where he became one of the main players.

When asked by Slamet Rahardjo and Niniek L. Karim to become producers, he saw this as an opportunity to restore kindness to the Popular Theater because he had joined the last generation.

My involvement in this performance is a kind of my responsibility for the Popular Theater to come back to life. The participation of friends who are not from the Popular Theater makes the show more lively and it is very important to revive the Popular Theater. I am very grateful to have received a lot of help from players, artistic arrangers, lighting arrangers, stage managers - who incidentally are not from the Popular Theater. But they are willing because of their respect for the Popular Theater," said Paquita Widjaja, who received artistic education at the School of Design, New York.

Meanwhile Samuel Wattimena, known as a fashion designer, in this performance also acts as a producer with Paquita. For him this is a step to do more for the theater. Previously, for approximately 20 years, he was involved in many performances and filming with the Popular Theater as a costume organizer and director.