In Memory for Maya Angelou with Hopes for All Caged Birds - Panggung Kemanusian/Stage for Humanity

Red Room, a performance that I  began writing in 2000 and then performed in various  places and contexts ( at Melbourne Fringe Festival, In Newcastle, in a backyard in Canberra, at a university campuses in Jakarta, Bali, Indonesia  and Bathurst, Australia; in gallery, at  Magdelena Festival  of Women  in Contemporary Theater in  Singapore at The Esplanadein 2006, and finally  in 2006 at 81/2 months pregnant at Taman Ismail Mazurki, Jakarta  as part of a  monologue festival ) is  being reworked and restaged for Stage  for Humanity event held at UNPAD this Saturday. I am blessed to be a part of this event, possibly the  only event that this performance was meant for and it is amazing to come back to the material 8 years later with a new sense of maturity, physical strength and awareness of  the complexities of the issues at hand. It  is also disconcerting to find that the issues raised in it are still relevant - acts of violence  towards women are still a regular occurrence. The 250 girls kidnapped is just one of many examples and  then there are the unreported rapes that occur as acts of war.  I found myself in  a discussion where the street seller was saying that the girl had invited the rape. And recently here in Indonesia, two  stories - the one of the  woman in Aceh who was raped by seven moral police and the  rape of a child by janitors at a school. Rape is not an ' invited' act, its an act of power and  hate.

  I read that women who take self defence course designed for women are  empowered more and able to assert themselves against unwanted advances - the physical strength and health of women is important too. ( Read the article - http://moosin.net/2014/06/are-women-safer-when-they-learn-self-defense/)

 This new Red Room explores the inherent dispositions that we take on the issue.  There will be other performances as well  Monica S, Ewing (Perwakilan Kedubes AS di Indonesia),  Dudih A. Zuhud (Guru Besar FIB Unpad), Mona Sylviana (Penulis fiksi, penggiat teater), Rinrin Candraresmi (4Perempuan Foundation), Yayan Katho (Pemusik, Penggubah Lagu),  Kelompok Dosen, Mahasiswa, dan Alumni Sastra Inggris FIB-Unpad), Lina Meilinawati Rahayu (Sastra Indonesia FIB-Unpad) Aquarini Priyatna (Departemen Susastra dan Kajian Budaya FIB Unpad), Relawan Pramuka Buku Hidup (Prabuhi Bandung),  Pungkit Wijaya (Forum Alternatif Sastra Bandung)  Bunyamin Fasya (UIN Sunan Gunung Djati), Yopi Setia Umbara (Jalan Teater),  Ferry Fauzi Hermawan (Penulis fiksi, penyair, Sastra Kontemporer FIB-Unpad)  Rika Indrawati (Penggiat Teater)……………

  So come along and say a prayer for humanity and all caged birds….

 Kerensa