OF POWER PLAY AND HOLY ROBES

IT'S not easy comprehending a play. Sometimes the message is buried so deep that one has to mull over the whole thing to understand it. Most of the time, the audience is left to make its own assumptions - which is probably a good thing as it makes people think.

For Gelanggang Tok Wali, the play which was recently staged at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, viewers had to diligently read between the lines to grasp the message.

Tok Wali (played by Rini Tupong) is a present-day silat guru who has been upholding the art of self-defence for 50 years. He has hundreds of students and two really good, reliable ones are Ripin (Assaruddin Ariffin) and Mariam (Rashidah Ramli). Tok Wali feels he is too old to carry on with his job and asks Ripin to replace him but Ripin feels he is not ready for the big job.

Tok Wali's wife Mak Umi (Sharifah Shahirah) was Tok Siak's (singer Nash, of the now-defunct band Lefthanded) ex-fiancee. Tok Wali holds the Keris Ganja Seiras Naga Berjuang close to his heart and regards it as a supreme power. He uses the kris to instil patriotic sentiments in his students.

But his two friends, Tok Imam (M. Ridwan Deen) and Tok Siak, think Tok Wali should return the kris to the rightful possessor - the mosque.

Tok Siak is eager to get the kris no matter what to fulfil his greed. After failing to get it by force, he connives with Piee (Md Hussain Hashim) to steal the kris from Tok Wali. Piee, Tok Wali's step-grandson, is a former addict and jailbird.

In a fight, Piee accidentally stabs Tok Wali and flees from the scene. The kampung folk blame Tok Siak for Tok Wali's death.

Watching Gelanggang Tok Wali was a gratifying experience. The main characters, especially Tok Wali and Tok Siak, were realistically written. We certainly have heard or know of, and seen, many Tok Walis and Tok Siaks in our daily lives.

The familiar lines were spot-on, like when Mak Umi tells Tok Siak: "Musuh Tok Wali bukan dari luar tapi dari dalam (Tok Wali's enemy is within not without); Tok Wali tersilap gelanggang (Tok Wali is in the wrong arena)," and "Gerak yang sama dalam 50 tahun (singing the same tune for 50 years)."

There was one line which had the audience in stitches. Tok Wali says: "An old man is like someone who just recovered from illness - he has the appetite but is too weak to feed himself."

Rini Tupong's portrayal of Tok Wali was fair but at times he went overboard with his whining. He played a forgotten hero who still has passion for his silat. But going on and on about how unfairly he's been treated and how people ridicule him was a bit too much. And that flaw is mainly the responsibility of the scriptwriter and director.

The sarcasm thrown at Tok Imam and Tok Siak who were depicted as pious people through their attire made many in the audience sit up. The two "holy" men, who use religion as a means to achieve their goals, were convincing. These characters sounded all too familiar.

There were many funny moments but one particular joke that was in bad taste was when the effeminate-journalist character got a cheap thrill by touching Tok Wali's butt.

Gelanggang Tok Wali is about two people with differing political ideologies. The kris is depicted as a symbol of power while the three old men in the play - Tok Wali, Tok Imam and Tok Siak - are the greedy ones fighting for power to influence the kampung folk and dominate their way of thinking.

There were a few passages of lengthy dialogue but they were quite essential. In fact, Gelanggang Tok Wali scores high because of the intriguing script by Ismail Kassan. It's not easy to keep the audience engrossed for almost three hours. Another person who should share this credit is director Shukor Yon.

The casting was good and almost all the actors shone in their respective roles. The play was a mite draggy in a few scenes but this could be worked on.

On the whole, Gelanggang Tok Wali is a good effort by the Selangor Theatre Council. There have been plans to take the play on a nationwide tour and this should be good news for theatre fans.

Note: Nash plays Tok Siak, a greedy man who uses religion to get what he wants.

BY ZIEMAN - PUBLISHED 20/4/2000