Onrop!
So like almost everybody else in Jakarta these past three weeks, I’ve visited Onrop island. Saw Onrop! The Musical by talented Indonesian director Joko Anwar. I gave standing ovation at the end, but there were some points in the scenes that I wish I could just go to sleep.
The 1st act was kinda a drag, it tried to explain so much in a short act. The only reason I stayed awake is the uber presence of Amir. Who’s Amir, you might ask? Think of it as a gay version of Amir in Darah Garuda. Oh yeah it’s Ario Bayu strutting his stuff all over the stage. If there’s a Tony in indonesia, then Ario Bayu is the only contender. Hands down.
What’s funny though, it’s not the main characters that made a lasting impression. I particularly love the vixens and the gelandangan. What I love is the writing! The script is quick, harsh, brilliant in every word. Although,I must say, enough Gayus reference already. I wish, though, the sound quality is a lot better. This is, for me, is the worse compare to Jakarta Love Riot and Gita Cinta. I mean, Anwar did so brilliant with the lyrics, but I could hardly recognize what they’re saying when the casts sang in group.
As far as people comparing it to Broadway, I won’t go that far, but this might be as close as we could be to Jonathan Larson’s Rent. If you ask me was the ticket price worth it? For silver: yes. For gold? I don’t wanna pay IDR 550k for that kind of sound quality. As a satire coming alive on stage, I won’t hesitate giving Onrop full stars. But on the other hand, this is not the musical for everybody. Onrop, most of the time, felt like us, the so-called cool liberal part of indonesia’s society laughing at the ridiculousness of our country. Because as we cheered at some punching lines, deep inside we know that we get it, but the people who should get it probably not. And while I’m saying all of these, I’d definitely go as far as saying that not seeing Onrop is the biggest crime you could commit this year. For the writing, the punchlines, that one Canti Widyadhari, the vixens, and - of course – Ario Bayu, I would see Onrop at least twice!
