Almost for two weeks, the yard of UGM Student Hall turned into a graveyard. This is surely unnatural. What is the matter?
The graveyard in the middle of the hall is a property used by Teater Gadjah Mada (TGM) UGM during theatre performance entitled Leng. The performance directed by Bambang Widoyo SP., will be held on Thursday evening (15/7) during the Festival Teater Jogja 2010 event.
TGM is one of the five participants in the festival and the only student participant. The other four are Teater Kulon Progo (TeKaPe), Teater Amarta Bantul, Komunitas Slenk, and Teater Payung Imogiri.
The festival is a channel for theater groups in Yogyakarta to showcase their creativity that was first held in 2009 in collaboration between Taman Budaya Yogyakarta and Yayasan Umar Kayam.
Firdaus Tegar, public affairs officer of TGM, said that the selection of the Javanese play was because it goes along with the theme of the festival, Visiting Own Home. Leng includes a number of symbols representing the disappointment of the elite's policy that is always oriented toward individual interest, thus disadvantaging the general people.
“As UGM member of community, we offer perspective of the current education in the Leng play. Education seems to be made a strategic business sector, even education fabrication has occured in some areas in Indonesia. This is what we're trying to highlight as a methof of approach to education managers," he explained on Wednesday (14/7) in the Student Hall.
Leng depicts the conflict in a kampong following the eviction of a graveyard for a factory enlargement. Conflicts occured between the interest to maintain tradition and to maintain modernization.