Disclaimer: This review is part of my personal takes on the works presented at Pesta ARTI 2.0. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer (i.e. me, myself and I) and do not reflect the views of the organizers, jury, or any affiliated parties. The intention is to engage critically with the work while supporting the growth of indie theater.
Team 2:
Written by Yusof Bakar
Adaption and directed by Fahim Fuad
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with what was presented. For me, the main issue lies in the adaptation; it felt uncertain, unclear, and in many parts, unnecessary. Some of the creative choices even risked undermining the essence of the original story. I later found out that about 90% of the script had been reworked, to the extent that it might as well have been credited as “written by Fahim Fuad, original idea from Yusof Bakar” rather than using the term “adaptation by.” And frankly, I agree.
There are those who pointed out that the major issue lay in the pacing. The repetitive emotional cycles, combined with the alternating rhythm between intentional silence and dialogue, just didn’t land. In this case, the directing is where the attention needs to go.
Sometimes, it’s easy to identify which element of a production needs fixing. But in other cases, the problem isn’t so clear-cut. It’s a combination of factors that, together, prevent the piece from reaching its full potential.
That said, it wasn’t a disaster. There are potentials in the play. Both actors (Chech Hareth playing Ayah and Haifa Hashim playing the daughter, Qaseh) delivered decent, satisfactory performances. Personally, I feel that if the adaptation had been clearer, their acting could have landed with much more impact. It felt as though they were held back by the lack of clarity in the material, struggling to fully tap into the characters’ psyche and as a result, they weren’t quite able to bring those characters to life in a meaningful way. I say this knowing what they’re capable of. I’ve seen them perform before and with the right material and direction, I believe they could’ve delivered something much stronger.
There was a monologue at the end of the play which, if taken in isolation, was quite beautiful. However, it might have come a little too late to leave the profound impact it was clearly aiming for, though I still found it a strong moment on its own. In it, the Ayah reflects on three ways to find meaning in life, lessons he says he learned from his daughter, Qaseh, despite all the books he’s read and written.
The three ways are:
1 - Buat sesuatu yang bernilai untuk masyarakat.
(Doing something meaningful for society.)
2 - Mencintai seseorang dan mendalami keindahan dan kebesaran dunia bersamanya.
(Loving someone and experiencing the beauty and vastness of the world together.)
3 - Memilih untuk bertindak balas dengan cara positif ketika tidak dapat mengawal keadaan, mengalami penderitaan dan tidak dapat melawan takdir.
(Choosing to respond positively when you can’t change a situation in times of suffering or when facing fate.)
These ideas echo Viktor Frankl’s philosophy from Man’s Search for Meaning. It's possible that Qaseh had drawn inspiration from the book herself.
The monologue worked for me, conceptually. But by that point, my attention and emotional energy were already drained (inefficiently) and as lovely as that final moment was, it felt like too little, too late. The adaptation had already lost me with its muddled direction.
Tanpa Lafaz Cinta had the ingredients for something emotionally resonant such as the father-daughter relationship, issues on regrets and a (potentially) moving final monologue. But the execution didn’t quite pull everything together. When an adaptation strays too far without a strong guiding vision, it risks losing both the original’s soul and the audience’s trust. This felt like one of those cases. There’s talent in the team and moments that showed promise, but it needed clearer storytelling and stronger directing choices to work. Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone towards tighter, more focused work in the future because the potential is definitely there. I believe that with a solid adaptation, everything else would fall into place.
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