Never short of exciting ideas, South Jakarta’s beloved theatre community Komunitas Salihara is launching yet another program to attract theatre enthusiasts. Starting January until March 2017, the performance art enclave is opening its doors for anyone wishing to learn acting.
The class will be conducted by Iswadi Pratama, a prominent figure in Indonesian literature and theatrical performance popularly known as actor, scriptwriter and director. His Bandar Lampung-based theatre group, Teater Satu, was awarded as “The Best Theatre Group” by the Indonesian news magazine Tempo in 2008 and 2012. In August 2016, he and his group were invited to perform at the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT) Summer Festival in Toga, Japan. Using the Stanislavski system, named after the late Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavksi, the training involves more than merely physical and vocal training and includes a rigorous process of artistic self-analysis and reflection. The process mobilises the actor’s conscious thoughts and will in order to activate other, less-controllable psychological processes — such as emotional experience and subconscious behaviour — sympathetically and indirectly. “The Stanislavski System relies on the three main instruments within ourselves as a human – thoughts, emotions and body – to help us get ready to act and react to our surrounding. We chose this method for the class because it provides the right basic for actors to develop their expression ‘tools’ such as their body, voice, [facial] expressions, emotions, thoughts, as well as verbal and non-verbal expressions. The Stanislavski System is one of the most comprehensive acting methods and it is good for the actors’ intelligence in linguistics, imagination, kinaesthetic learning, spatial, math, as well as emotional and organisational intelligences,” said Iswadi, who will be the sole acting teacher for the program. 
Sound complicated? Fret not, the class is meant to be for everyone. “We’d like for everyone, including non-professional actors, to have more experience in developing their acting skills, which will help their ability to communicate, empathize with others and become more dynamic,” said Iswadi. Komunitas Salihara is even planning to make it a routine annual program, with the hope that the program will churn out more competent actors with proven capability. Kelas Akting Salihara, or Salihara Acting Class, will be held every Saturday and Sunday. The program welcomes a maximum of 20 students for the basic class (10 AM – 1 PM) and 20 students for the advanced class (3 PM – 6 PM). It’s open for anyone aged 17 and over. Classes cost IDR 4,000,000. Click www.salihara.org for more details. Registration closes 6 January 2017.
