Jakarta, IO – Teater Salihara successfully performed a monologue themed ‘Feminine Erotica’ from four literary chapters of female French writers Anaïs Nin, Anne Cécile Desclos, Margueritte Duras and Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux on Tuesday (8/8) evening.
The monologue highlighted issue of the upheaval between love and female passion, complete with body language that immersed the audience in the story.
While the four women have different backgrounds, they have one thing in common, namely they face similar problems in holding back sexual turmoil which is taboo to talk about.
Instead of confining them, existing moral boundaries make them even more eager to explore the ‘pleasures’ with the men of their choice. “Let the body feel what it has to feel and be swept up in desire,” wrote Margueritte Duras in ‘The Lover’.
Ayu Utami, literature director and curator at the Salihara Artist Community, said she chose the theme because it describes the natural characteristics of women, not an imposed idea.
“We know that feminist is different from feminine. Feminism has to do with ideology, the struggle for women’s rights which we of course fully agree with. Meanwhile, femininity relates to womanhood or the female character,” she said.
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Ayu also believes that the monologue performed by Asmara Abigail, Elghandiva Astrilia, Ine Febriyanti and Sri Qadariatin can lead to multiple interpretations.
“Art in its limited form is a wider world than ideology. Art invites us to experience something that can be ironic, paradoxical, dark, tension between pleasure and pain, between Eros and Thanatos,” she explained. (bp)