SOEKARNO
Revolutionary, freedom fighter against 350 years of colonial violence, first president of Indonesia. In this production by Bo Tarenskeen (writer and director of The Indonesian Interior and The Indies Monologues) we meet Soekarno, who resists the Dutch domination. That which starts out as a fight for freedom grows into a revolution which progressively becomes harder and harder to control. How do you bring together a fundamentally divided people? How do you prevent a country from falling apart? And how do you stay true to your own beliefs?
Romantic, pioneer, anti-imperialist, intellection, provocateur, mystic, nationalist, national traitor, hero of the people, democrat with dictatorial tendencies? His name still calls forth extreme reactions. Our perception of Soekarno is formed by feelings of betrayal, humiliation and forced separations, but also by misplaced moralism and a painful lack of political bravery.
Bo Tarenskeen and Esther Scheldwacht play the young and the old Soekarno respectively. As an audience, we are witnesses to the formation of Soekarno’s thinking against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation, the declaration of independence, the Bersiap, the colonial war and the coup that ended his presidency. A daring production about the desire for unity, the escalation of violence and the fragility of democracy.
Premières on the 26th of September 2026 at the Koninklijke Schouwburg in Den Haag, The Netherlands.
DIRECTION AND TEXT Bo Tarenskeen
CO-DIRECTION Erasmus Mackenna
PERFORMANCE Bo Tarenskeen and Esther Scheldwacht
SCENOGRAPHY Maze de Boer
LIGHTING DESIGN Varja Klosse
DRAMATURGY Jellichje Reijnders
PRODUCED BY De Tienduizend Dingen and Het Nationale Theater, The Netherlands