For Agus Susilo, the theater serves as an art that unites Indonesia out of a number of regions. When talking about the theater, all artists of various backgrounds are unified.
By
NIKSON SINAGA
·6 minutes read
KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA
Agus Susilo
Agus Susilo, 44, has almost never left the theater over the last 25 years. Amid economic and physical limitations, he is loyally staging dramas, monologues and poetry in theater buildings, at markets as well as garbage dumps. Through his works, he conveys social criticism and defends public interests.
Agus had just returned from the Education and Culture Office (Disdikbud) of the Medan city administration, North Sumatra, on Wednesday, at noon (15/2/2023). He got a lift on a motorcycle driven by Herawanti Handayani, 48, also an artist from Kata-kata Community.
“We’ve just gotten back from Disdikbud-Medan where we discussed preparations for Payau Puan Paloh Festival on 11-12 March in Medan, a performing-arts event portraying the life of women in Paloh, in the coastal region,” said Agus, to start a conversation when met by Kompas at a café on Jl. Letjen Suprapto, Medan.
Agus appeared in his typically eccentric style. He wore a sarong sewn in the middle so that it resembled a pair of culottes, combined with sneakers. The upper garment was a long-sleeved black worship-styled shirt. His unkempt hair was covered with a newsboy cap.
Agus got acquainted with performing arts as a student of Binjai State Senior High School 1 in 1998. At the time, he was challenged by his teachers to create balance between his right and left brain. In school he was known to be smart at mathematics, physics and other exact sciences. Then he took part in poetry competitions at North Sumatra University and the North Sumatra Cultural Park. “I was champion at the poetry contests,” said Agus.
I was champion at the poetry contests.
Agus was more interested in performing arts. When he continued his study at the Journalism Department of the College of Development Communication Science, Medan, he joined theater communities on his campus and at the North Sumatra Cultural Park. In the early 2000s, performing arts were at their peak of popularity in North Sumatra.
Theater groups were emerging on campuses. They wrote dramas and trained there. Agus originally joined the Teater Lentera group. Not infrequently, Agus and other theater members had to spend the night at his campus.
In 2005, Agus quit the campus and opened Teater Rumah, which finally changed its name to Teater Rumah Mata. He left the campus until he returned again in 2011 to finish his study after 11 years.
KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA
Agus Susilo
Loyalty put to test
Their loyalty to the world of performing arts was really put to the test after leaving the campus. Most of the theater members abandoned the stage after finishing their studies as the arts were not promising economically. They chose to work with companies or become civil servants in government institutions.
“Many of them have fled the theater due to the problem of livelihood. I have once tried to quit but something seemed to get away from me: my spirit of life and soul,” said Agus.
He therefore decided to remain creative amid his economic and physical limitations. Agus was born disabled with limited movement of the lower body. He has experienced having only one meal daily, with salted fish, for months. Dedek Wanti, as Herawanti is intimately called, once pawned her last gold ring to ensure the theater show planned by Agus could be enacted.
However, the works of Agus have always been stunning. He is not a poet who only displays the elegance of words. Agus is known as an artist showing concern about social issues faced by the public. As the 2004 general elections drew near, along with Teater Lentera, he presented his work entitled Garis Tangan Republik (The Republic’s Fate), criticizing the presidential election of the time.
In addition to sociopolitical matters, he has also engaged the arts to defend public interests, including the rescue of the Medan Merdeka Square. While Sumatra Theater Festival II was underway in Palembang, South Sumatra, at the end of last year, Agus emboldened a number of literary men from several regions to launch poetry readings about the salvage of the Medan Merdeka Square.
The struggle, alongside the Coalition of Medan-North Sumatra Civil Societies, to save the Medan Merdeka Square from commercialization of public space, was a long one. At last, the government revitalized the square and demolished the snack center, offices, tall concrete walls and second-hand bookshops occupying it. The Medan Merdeka Square is now the city’s cultural heritage.
Folk arts
Agus does not forget to promote folk arts either. In the middle of January, along with artist Ayub El Hamzah, he organized Koeli Kontrak (Contract Workers) Festival staging ketoprak dor (popular play based on Javanese history) and kuda lumping (horse dance). The arts were born out of Java-Deli community members employed as tobacco estate workers in Sumatra in the early 1900s.
The performing arts faced a challenge in the initial COVID-19 pandemic period. Yet Agus did not want to remain silent. He initiated an online art festival entitled Meditasi Corona Virus via Youtube channels and Facebook. The festival was welcomed by artists, who staged various performances from different regions.
In the theatrical realm there’s no such term as I’m Javanese, you’re Chinese. I’m Muslim, you’re Christian.
For Agus, the theater also serves as an art that unites Indonesia out of a number of regions. When talking about the theater, all artists of various backgrounds are unified. “In the theatrical realm there’s no such term as I’m Javanese, you’re Chinese. I’m Muslim, you’re Christian. All artists of diverse backgrounds are always unified without being segmented,” said Agus.
Agus indicated that over the last several years performing arts had been revived after the presence of the cultural perpetual fund as stipulated in Law No.5/2017 on Cultural Promotion.
Various art and cultural festivals that have so far had difficulty to secure funding from sponsors can obtain financial backing from the cultural perpetual fund. Agus also appreciated Director General of Culture, Education and Culture Ministry, Hilmar Farid, who had paid ample attention to the revival of performing arts in regions.
Agus then took his backpack and was prepared to leave to teach arts in a school in Medan. Amid his art-related activities, he is actively engaged in extracurricular teaching on the subject of arts in several schools. He wants the theater’s continued survival as the city is progressing.…
Agus Susilo
Born:Sunggal, 23 August 1978
Education:
- State Elementary School 105272, Purwodadi village, Sunggal district, Deli Serdang.
- State Junior High School 2, Sunggal
- State Senior High School 1, Binjai
- Journalism Department, College of Development Communication Science, Medan
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