The Lontar Anthology of Indonesian Drama Volume 2: Building a National Theater

The first four decades of the national art theater in Indonesia (1926-1965) were a period of fascinating experimentation undertaken by elite intellectuals heavily influenced by, and attempting to come to terms with, the forms and styles of western theater. These experiments ranged chiefly from hybrid anti-colonial allegories and grand historical epics to psychological and social realisms. The present volume contains a selection of dramas representative of this exciting and pivotal era in the construction of Indonesia’s modern national art theater. It begins with nationalist allegories, then moves to psychological and social-realist works. The plays at the end of the period covered by this volume will later influence a new direction of theater; a new dominant current of drama that would flow into the New Order period, beginning in 1966.