SOEKARNO

A bold performance about the desire for unity, the derailment of violence and the fragility of democracy.

Revolutionary, fighter against 350 years of colonial violence, first president of Indonesia. In this new performance by Bo Tarenskeen, we meet Sukarno, who resists Dutch rule. What begins as a fight for freedom grows into a revolution that is increasingly difficult to control. How do you bring a deeply divided people together? How do you prevent a country from falling apart? And how do you stay true to your own values in the process?

Sukarno's name still evokes fierce reactions: was he a romantic, pioneer, anti-perialist, intellectual, provocateur, mystic, nationalist, traitor, folk hero, democrat with dictatorial traits? Our image is defined by feelings of betrayal, humiliation and forced departure. But also by misplaced moralism and a painful lack of political courage.

Bo Tarenskeen and Esther Scheldwacht play the young and the old Sukarno in SOEKARNO. We witness the formation of Sukarno's thinking against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation, the declaration of independence, the Bersiap, the colonial war and the coup that ended his presidency. A bold performance about the desire for unity, the derailment of violence and the fragility of democracy.

Credits

Text and direction: Bo Tarenskeen
Performance: Esther Scheldwacht and Bo Tarenskeen
Co-direction: Erasmus Mackenna
Dramaturgy: Jellichje Reijnders
Scenography: Maze de Boer
Production management: 'nMore
Produced by the ten thousand things in co-production with Het Nationale Theater.