REVIEW: BUNGA PENUTUP ABAD brings Pramoedya’s World to the Stage

Review by Zahira, editing by Rakaputra Paputungan.

On 29–31 August 2025, Titimangsa returned to the stage with their 88th production, Bunga Penutup Abad, performed at Ciputra Artpreneur. This play is an intermedial adaptation from Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s novels Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) and Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations), directed by Wawan Sofwan. The team from BroadwayWorld Indonesia attended the performance on 30 August.

This production is clearly made for admirers of Pramoedya Ananta Toer.  Bunga Penutup Abad is set between Bumi Manusia and Anak Semua Bangsa. If you haven’t read these books, there’s a good chance you won’t fully grasp the nuances. For a casual viewer, it’s simply a well-staged play. But for Pramoedya’s readers, it feels like a continuation—a chance to dive deeper into the characters you already know, to build headcanons, and to see how a scriptwriter interprets them beyond the pages.

What amazed me most was not what happened on stage, but the sheer skill of the writing. To carry a story from the middle of two monumental novels into a theatrical form is an impressive feat. It’s a beautiful adaptation, but in order to be awed by that craftsmanship, you need to understand the original literary context. Key plots—like what happened with Maurits Mellema, the courtroom scenes, or why Annelies returns to Amsterdam—are not explained, because the production assumes the audience already knows them from the books.

Some argued that Bunga Penutup Abad felt cinematic. I disagree. To me, the way it was staged was deeply theatrical. Most of the story takes place at Nyai Ontosoroh’s house, with the drama unfolding through words, emotions, and presence. It isn’t film-like—it’s still rooted in theater.

Speaking of presence, the acting was remarkable. The stage is massive, but the actors had such strong command that it never made the stage feel empty. Happy Salma, Chelsea Islan, Reza Rahadian, and Andrew Trigg all delivered excellent performances. Their projection, mannerisms, and intonations made the emotions clear—even when viewed from above, I could feel what they were expressing. There are other adaptations of Bumi Manusia, where I feel like the actors there are doing things people from that era wouldn’t do. But in Bunga Penutup Abad, everything felt authentic and believable, as if I were truly watching people who lived in that time. The movements were precise, almost as though rehearsed a thousand times. My favorite performance? Happy Salma was outstanding. Her body language—subtle leg movements, her feet grounded contrasting her expressive upper-body gestures—was captivating. 

Instead, it’s about savoring the story, the passage of time, the setting, and above all, the characters as real, living people. Watching Nyai Ontosoroh talk—sharing her struggles, her past with Annelies, or even her letters of marriage proposals—was deeply rewarding, especially for longtime Pram readers. It’s like she emerges not as a one-dimensional figure, but as a whole person. I also loved their portrayal of Jean Marais. In the novel, his character isn’t depicted with much humor, yet in this play he brought such life to the role that it felt completely natural, something the character definitely would do, even if it wasn’t written in the book. 

Bunga Penutup Abad strikes a balance of precision and authenticity. The movements on stage feel unified, every performance executed with precision. As for the story, I have to be honest—it isn’t the most captivating plot on its own. But like many plays I’ve seen before, the strength lies not in the narrative twists, but in how the execution keeps you hooked throughout.

Broadwayworld Indonesia is a media partner of Bunga Penutup Abad.