The performance started at 19.30 Jakarta Time. Viewers showed great enthusiasm observed from the number of viewers who packed the ticket queue since 18.30 Jakarta Time. Even after the performance started, some people still hope that there will be an additional quota for viewers. The offline performance was held under a strict health protocol.

The horror romance performance tells the love story between jinn and humans, Hawjan the jinn, and Sawsan, the human. During the performance, their story could amaze the viewers with the people acting skills, costumes, and scenes built through the performance. The committee also utilizes incenses to create an eerie atmosphere. The performance runs for two hours in four rounds cure people longing for offline theater performances that have disappeared since the Covid-19 pandemic affected Indonesia. For the performers, this performance gave them satisfaction after the success HWJN, Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta completion.

“Relieved, Alhamdulillah, it runs smoothly, and the viewers were over the expectation. All processes were paid tonight,” Ilham, student of the Arabic Language and Literature Program who portrayed Hattan in HWJN, stated. Ilham said that his involvement in Teater Oase performance gave a deep impression on him. He enjoyed the processes he went through with other Teater Oase team and alumni of the Arabic Language and Literature Program UNS, who always supported him. After his first performance, Ilham stated that he would not give up and wanted to get involved in other theater performances.

Besides Ilham, there are other Arabic Languages and Literature Program UNS students that were involved in the performance: Brili, Ucha, Yudha, Salsa, Adil, Zidan, Daffa, and Ali. The actors worked together and prepared themselves for HWJN performance, with Rafi as director and Noval as assistant director. “It was an honor for us to present a work that could leave an impression for the viewers,” Rafi stated.

As a director, Rafi hoped that Teater Oase always creates a performance that adopts Middle East literature. Noval, the Arabic Language and Literature Program student and director assistant, also hoped that the viewer’s enthusiasm and euphoria could motivate Teater Oase to create more works that are enjoyed by all Indonesian people. The round of applause from viewers marked the completion of HWJN, Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta performance. Humas UNS

Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

The post Teater Oase HWJN Performance, Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta appeared first on Universitas Sebelas Maret.

The Big Stage of Oase Theater is the first performance in the Arabic language in Solo that performs Middle East literary works. This performance is held annually, with the last performance in 2020 being held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic with the title Majnun Laila. This year, the theater performs a different theme on ‘HWJN, Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta’ (when the impossible struck with ego and love), a horror romance story. Noval, HWJN assistant director, stated that this drama tells the meeting and first introduction between human and jinn.

“The jinn named Hawjan lives in an old house. One day, there was a human family who lived in the house. Shortly, Hawjan’s mother does not like a human, but Hawjan likes one of the house residents, Sawsan,” Noval explained.

Almost similar to the OUIJA film from Stiles White and Mike Flanagan, Hawjan and Sawsan, who live in two different worlds, communicate and interact using the Ouija board. Sawsan needs to arrange the letters on the board to communicate with Hawjan, making them closer and interested in one another. To uns.ac.id team, Noval stated that the HWJN story was inspired from Saudi Arabia literature from Ibraheem Abbas with the same title. His team added ‘Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta’ in their performance title.

“Lengkara is an impossibility, but on another side, the impossibility of the boundary between jinn and human to have a connection and love each other can be eliminated by the ego of the jinn because it needs to do something outside the law and love it has,” Noval explained on Tuesday (16/11/2021).

The idea to perform an Arabic novel appeared at the beginning of 2021 when the Oase Theater script team conducted research on Arabic manuscripts to be performed. The team agreed to perform the Ibraheem Abbas’ novel, although the script preparation process was unique and took a long time. Noval explained that the script preparation started in early 2021 by the team who translated the novel into the Indonesian language. “From the Indonesian, we prepared the drama script, and then the script was translated back to Arabic,” Noval explained.

After completing the script preparation, Noval and the team opened the registration and casting process to find appropriate casts. The team worked hard in two months to train, usually four times a week around Building 1 FIB UNS from afternoon to evening. In several opportunities, the team also train the Agro Budaya UNS. Despite the current pandemic, Noval admitted that his team did not find significant challenges during the rehearsal, but they paid attention to each cast’s health and provided a permit to the cast to take a break when they are not fit.

Getting near to the scheduled performance, Noval stated that viewers’ enthusiasm was really high that their pre-sale tickets were all sold. However, Noval and Oase Theater ensure that there are on-site tickets that could be purchased on the performance night.

“Although the performance is in Arabic, through the acts and feelings delivered by the actors, inshallah, viewers could understand. HWJN is interesting because it shared the story between jinn and humans that is rarely raised (in literature works). The performance also has moral messages that could be learned, such as not all what we want will be achieved,” Noval concluded. Humas UNS

Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

The post Oase Theater Big Stage Again Held Offline appeared first on Universitas Sebelas Maret.