The play “Mereka yang Menunggu di Banda Naira” now accessible via Indonesia Kaya

Indonesia Kaya on 17 December presented the documentation of the play “Mereka yang Menunggu di Banda Naira” (Those who Wait in Banda Naira) on its YouTube channel. The play is made in collaboration between Titimangsa Foundation and Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation. The documentation would be up for six months onwards. 

“Mereka yang Menunggu di Banda Naira” is the very first play to be produced and performed in a performing arts building by Titimangsa Foundation and Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation throughout the pandemic. The play on 25 November was performed in Jakarta Art Building with a limited audience as well as crew who strictly followed health protocols.

According to the producer of the play, Happy Salma, the performance gave a chance for the audience to be in an intimate proximity with the production itself since they could sit on the stage with the actors. “They could even clearly see the transitions between acts and sets, to witness the real cooperation between actors and crews,” she recounted.

Program Director of Bakti Budaya Djarum Renitasari Adrian added that performing the play in a hybrid way is also to make a statement that, “The Indonesian performing arts scene and workers always find a way to survive in any condition.” 

The play tells a story about Mohammad Hatta (Tanta Ginting), Iwa Koesoema Soemantri (Verdi Soelaiman), Sutan Syahrir (Reza Rahadian) and dr. Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo (Lukman Sardi) in Banda Neira, Banda Islands, Maluku. It is an island to exile the Dutch East Indies’ political prisoners and a place where those major figures managed to meet and together, they proceeded to resist the colonisers even in exile.