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See Also: Farewell WS Rendra, Poet, Playwright and Father of Indonesian Theater


Noted poet and playwright Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra, more popularly known as WS Rendra or “the Peacock,” died at around 10 p.m. on Thursday evening at a Depok hospital, less than two hours after he was admitted in a weak condition, a hospital staff member said.

Rendra published his first volume of poetry in 1957. He studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the mid-1960s, and returned to Indonesia to found the collaborative Bengkel Theatre. He launched numerous controversial and innovative productions.

"Java had no tradition of causal thinking; things were conceived of only according to parallel processes," he was later quoted as saying in the International Institute for Asian Studies newsletter. "I wanted to introduce something new: causality. ... I wanted people, particularly politicians who were becoming increasingly dogmatic, to be able to think analytically."

Rendra's writings fell afoul of the New Order regime. He was jailed without trial in 1978 and faced restrictions on his work for the next several years.

He continued to travel at age 70 and beyond to lecture and read from his writings.

Rendra died at 73 and left behind 11 children from three wives.

Since late June, he had been admitted to the hospital three times due to heart complications.