TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsTeater Koma revives ‘Rumah Sakit Jiwa’ for an unsettled world
The acclaimed play's revival, which incorporates some modern touches to its costumes and score as well as the internal reflections of actors reprising their roles, continues to invite audiences to reflect on the age-old battle between power and compassion.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Members of Teater Koma portray mental health patients in a scene from the troupe's latest production, ‘Rumah Sakit Jiwa’ (Mental Hospital), during a press conference in South Jakarta on July 10, 2026. (Courtesy of Image Dynamics/-)
W
atching the news these days, it’s hard not to feel that the world has become increasingly erratic. Wars drag on with no clear end in sight; world leaders bend the rules to suit their own interests; economic uncertainty ripples across borders. Meanwhile, global events unfold so quickly that simply keeping up can feel exhausting.
Against this backdrop, Indonesia's prominent theater troupe, Teater Koma, has revived one of its iconic dramas, Rumah Sakit Jiwa (Mental hospital).
Over its four-day run from July 30 to Aug. 2 at the Graha Bhakti Budaya at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta, with support from the Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation, the dark comedy once again proved why its sharp social satire continues to resonate, more than three decades after its debut in 1991.
Bearing the fitting tagline, "Saya merasa dunia sedang berubah menjadi sebuah rumah sakit jiwa" (I feel the world is turning into a mental hospital), the production revisits questions of power, compassion and humanity that feel strikingly relevant today.
"Since it was first staged in 1991, Rumah Sakit Jiwa has never been simply about a mental hospital. It's about people and the problems they face," director Rangga Riantiarno told a press conference in South Jakarta on July 10.
"That's why we believe the play remains just as relevant today," she said.
"Theater is one form of entertainment that never loses its relevance, no matter the era or the generation," said Billy Gamaliel, program manager at Djarum’s foundation for cultural initiatives.
More from The Weekender
The price you pay for living in Jakarta
It doesn't really matter where you live, Jakarta is expensive everywhere. The only real choice is what you're willing to pay with: your money, your time or your sanity.
Success isn’t at the top of the corporate ladder anymore
My generation watched our parents give everything to a company. We decided to give it to ourselves instead. But it's more complicated than that.
Our second Instagram account is the real one
In an act of rebellion against overexposure and performative social media, Gen Z are turning to smaller, controlled spaces on social media where they can be their authentic selves.
