Tag: Puta Wijaya

What Goes Around Is Always Coming Back Around

Life can be painful. Live theatre can be as well.

Now that we’re into rehearsals for the stage reading of Puta Wijaya’s play OH, it’s both gratifying and terrifying to discover that my initial thoughts about the piece being timely and universal are correct.

An event poster with a black background and orange and white accents, advertising a free staged reading of a play from Indonesia titled "OH". At the top, orange text reads "A FREE STAGED READING · SEASON 16". Below it, the word "INDONESIA" is boxed in orange, sitting just above the large, white, bold title, "OH". The credits below the title read "BY PUTU WIJAYA", followed by "TRANSLATED BY COBINA GILLITT · DIRECTED BY WARNER CROCKER" in slightly smaller white text. Two orange-outlined buttons below read "FREE TICKETS" and "RECEPTION TO FOLLOW". A central paragraph provides a synopsis of the play: "The Young Attorney arrives to fulfill his father's request, but he comes not as a son, but as an ambitious lawyer seeking his mentor's opinion on a case: defending a drug dealer facing two death sentences. What becomes clear is that it is the Young Attorney's ghost who arrives, apologizing and confessing that he now understands he was wrong. When he last visited his father, he should have come not as an arrogant lawyer, but as a son. But all of that has already happened. Nothing can be done to fix it."

That of course what’s makes a good play, a good story. It also makes for a constant reminder of how little attention we pay to the stories we tell and repeat.

Wijaya’s work began as a short story that was originally published in 2003, and was then adapted by him in 2018 into what he calls a monodrama, meaning a one character monologue. It’s set in Indonesia. But the words spilling out his thoughts could easily have been written about the U.S lately.

Here’s an example:

I’m stepping into the struggle for justice in this impotent toothless tiger of a country which, instead of using what’s left of its strength to fight, lazes around enjoying itself. Oh! This is insanely embarrassing. It just doesn’t make sense. But this is reality. Our reality! The older generation slacks off, the younger generation jacks off. People are racing to dig their own graves.

And another:

Not like those other lawyers these days who are mostly about making deals, or those elites and intellectuals who shine when they are powerless, but who, from their new seats of power, become more…(Louder) violent, greedy, materialistic, merciless, and despicable once they get the opportunity to trample on justice and truth they once idolized.

Working with IVP is one of the gigs I return to eagerly. Working with plays from far away places and different cultures, always, in the end, proves over and over again that at the core, we’re all the same. Though our life experiences may differ, they really aren’t.

I used the word terrifying in the opening of this post because you’d never know that this play wasn’t written about what we in the U.S. are living through currently. I also say that because regardless of where we’re from, or the horrors we endure, we never seem to learn how the wheel always turns and comes round again.

Life can be painful. Live theatre can be as well.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links. 

 

Gearing Up For Another Journey With The International Voices Project

The plays may be from far away, but the stories feel closer to home

It’s that time again. A time to journey into parts unknown with writers new to me. That means it’s time for The International Voices Project festival.

This promotional banner for the International Voices Project Spring 2026 Festival (Season 16) is set against a black background with white, yellow, and tan accents. At the top, the text invites viewers to the "16th Annual Festival of Contemporary Plays in Translation," running from May 12 – 21, 2026, in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes Chicago. A tan box in the upper right encourages donations to keep the festival free. The center of the banner features four square portraits representing scheduled readings, each with a date tag in the corner: • May 12: "Flood Zone | Spain" – A black and white portrait of a woman in a dark sleeveless top. • May 14: "Golem | Ukraine" – A woman with long hair and bangs leaning against a stone wall. • May 19: "Motheranimal | Germany" – A person wearing a tan baseball cap and a denim jacket, looking off to the side. • May 21: "OH | Indonesia" – A man wearing a white flat cap and glasses around his neck.

This is a gig I participate in once or twice a year. IVP gives me a chance to explore writers, different cultures, and a larger world. The mission of IVP is to bring international works translated into English to Chicago audiences. They are presented in a staged reading format. That simply means actors are carrying scripts and the production isn’t fully realized. The emphasis is on the text and the story.

This year I’m headed to Indonesia and the play, OH, by Puta Wijaya. The story features a young attorney who arrives at his father’s hospital bedside to fulfill his father’s request, but he comes not as a son, but as an ambitious lawyer seeking his mentor’s opinion on a case: defending a drug dealer facing two death sentences. Wijaya himself adapted the piece into a play from an original short story of his, called The People’s Justice.

The one thing I always learn from these plays from other countries is not how different we are, but just how much we are the same. That’s more than true with this piece, as much of what the main character thinks could be ripped out of today’s US headlines or from social media.

Looking forward to spending the next week rehearsing and hearing the staged reading of OH, next week.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links.