Written by Indonesian director/playwright Arifin C Noer, Kapai-Kapai depicts the aspirations, spirituality and dream life of the Indonesian people. The play makes use of theatrical elements to the fullest extent, with dramatic movements ranging from the gently lyrical to the strongly rhythmic.
In Abu’s fantasy world, ‘“Mother’’ is the supreme ruler. “‘Mother"’ is both loving and cruel in nature. The play aims to deliver a message about life, presenting to us images of what could happen in the future. It puts to test a person's character, both his strengths and weaknesses, aided by the appearance of different symbols in his fantasy world. Besides, the fantasy world of Abu helps him to escape from the realities and hardships of everyday life, a life of poverty, compounded by the social subservience which he tries to escape.
Throughout the play, a number of tantalising symbols and images appear and disappear: *‘Mother"’, the ‘Magic Mirror’’, light, the doors and rain. These archetypes are dramatically effective. They work visually and emotionally in the play, but do not have any profound ‘meaning’ in them as they are used to depict characters within Abu's fantasies.
(Source: Ministry of Community Development Programme)
