Avoid Free Sex

This time the Coma Theatre did not lure laughter from the audience.

An IV tube sticks in the arm of Galileo “Leo” Kastoebi. The role played by Budi Ros is laying helplessly. He is in pain on the bed. The oxygen mask covering his mouth isn’t helping much. He wishes all the ladies from his romantic encounters to come and visit, but none would. Fortunately, Wieska Gerung (Tuti Hartati), one of the said ladies, who is truly in love with him –not just for sex- comes. And the moment was tragic. In front of his lady friend, doctor,
friends, and both his parents, Kastoebi laid out his last breath after tens on years fighting against the HIV/AIDS virus.

The scenes of “Sand Castle” performance done by the Coma Theatre at the Salihara Theatre is a serious long argument point on the spreading of the HIV/AIDS. The first hour of the show was filled with love ventures of Kastoebi, a wealthy businessman who enjoys switching intimate friends, enjoying the glitz and glam of the metropolitan night life, and was a heartthrob of the girls, including Wieske Gerung, an executive secretary of Kastoebi’s company, who fell in love with him. Wieske would surely do anything for Kastoebi.

Slowly but sure HIV sneaked into Kastoebi’s bloodlines, eating away his body immune system. His body defense collapsed and his soul became brittle. Bambang Nirwanto (Rangga Riantiarno) advised Kastoebi to take an HIV test. He strongly declined, but finally agreed. And it turned out that Kastoebi was HIV positive.

Doctor Tatyana Ridanda (Cornelia Agatha) who did the test for Kastoebi was in a heavy mind struggle. She felt as if she was the one who gives the verdict of someone being infected with HIV, and then she also suggested the patient to use Anti Retroviral Treatment (ATR). She unveils the day of death. “I’m like the angel of death. Why me?” cried doctor Tatyana.

After Kastoebi’s death, Wieske finds out she is pregnant. The world seems to end for her since the father of the unborn is now gone, and she is also infected with HIV from him. How will her baby be? Wieske never wished for an abortion for the unborn is her flesh and blood. The solution is for the baby to be born, but not nursed by the mother. This is because mother’s milk may infect the baby with the HIV virus it carries from the mother.

And so, as if giving hope, at the end of the story Weiske gives birth to her baby and it was declared negative from HIV. So was the performance that is filled with message for humanity, performed at a humbly set stage. And this time, the Coma Theatre did not lure laughter from the audience as it usually does. From the beginning to the end, messages are delivered verbally: beware of free sex!

Teks Ahmad Nurhasim
Source: arti 34th edition (december 2010)