The Lontar Anthology of Indonesian Drama Vol. 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 realism. This volume contains a selection of plays representative of the main currents of this exciting and pivotal era in the construction of Indonesia's modern national art theater. The volume begins with nationalist allegories, then moves to psychological and social-realist works, and finally to plays that typify the dominant currents into which the theater of the New Order period, beginning in 1966, would later flow.

Authors: Roestam Effendi, Sanusi Pane, Armijn Pane, Saadah Alim, Usmar Ismail, Utuy Tatang Sontani, Muhammad Ali, Motinggo Busye, Misbah Yusa Biran, Agam Wispi, Yoebar Ayoeb, Iwan Simatupang, Mohamad Diponegoro

Editors: Michael Bodden and John H. McGlynn

Translators: Barbara Hatley, Evan Darwin Winnet, Edward van Ness, Harry Aveling, Ian Jarvis Brown, John H. McGlynn, Justine Fitzgerald, Michael H. Bodden, Micaela Campbell