Ruang Tunggu is the first public performance comeback of Teater Seriboe Djendela (TSD) since a hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This play was held on Sunday, September 10th 2023 at 17.00 o’clock. About 70 students from different study programs came to watch their jaw-dropping opening performance in K.22 room, Campus 1, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Through this play, TSD’s comeback has made its name famed once again. This could be proven by the enthusiastic applause of the audience after the curtain closed. Apart from that, what made this performance more special was that one of the scriptwriters also played as an actress in Ruang Tunggu.
This opening performance was greatly accepted by the TSD’s audiences. The performance itself was terrific, as it left the audience stunned by all of the aspects of the performance, whether its actors and actresses, its story, or its settings. Vimala Shella from the Economic Education Department and Kenar Kanayana from the English Letters Department proved successful as scriptwriters in presenting Ruang Tunggu as a new performance adapted from a short film entitled Parlour Game by Denny Sangra.
Ruang Tunggu tells a story about a group of people (the Muslim Woman, the Prostitute, the Husband, the Wife, and the Prisoner) stuck in a waiting room together in which the Game Master explained the possibility that one person can either have their wish come true or die by the end of the wait. As an inspired work, some minor changes were applied to its character backgrounds, such as the Husband and the Wife in which they are missing their departed instead of longing for a child they never had like the original one as explained by Kenar Syalaisha Kanayana as one of the actresses and scriptwriters.
Ayu Aprilia Dewi as the Wife and Skolastika Putri S. W. as the Prisoner, with Agnes Seraphine reading the opening and closing poem. All actors and actresses starring in the Ruang Tunggu performance went through a selection process and have undergone training to support their performance.
Even though the performance itself ran smoothly, it cannot be ignored that there were some obstacles in the making process. “The preparation took around a month. During that time, we experienced obstacles. For actors, the hardest part was trying to get into the character. Other difficulties involved technical and artistic issues,” stated Maria Vionitha, the Social Media Manager and Lighting Operator of TSD Performance.
A lot of challenges were faced in the scriptwriting process. The differences between film and play script format made it difficult for the scriptwriters to adapt. It did not stop there, there was more to it. It was a play adapted from an open-ended film which made it difficult for the audience to interpret the meaning. Kenar Syalaisha as one of the scriptwriters had to anticipate this possibility and worked harder to make the delivery as clear as possible. She hopes that the audience can interpret the meaning and the moral of the story on their own.
All in all, TSD’s first opening performance after the COVID-19 outbreak is hoped to open the path to rise again and continue the old TSD tradition established by its predecessor before COVID-19. This performance was proof of TSD’s existence with unquenchable spirits that will always be brave to hit the stage through its stories and characters.
Journalist: Valentina Pascalia
Reporter: Dulce Cicilia Sariri
Editor: Desca Geovani Kristi, Ruth Tirza Arina (QC)