Review: Kapan Nikah? is A Celebration and Condemnation of Marriage Culture

The musical community Jaksical held their latest production, Kapan Nikah? (“When Are You Getting Married?”) on February 21-23 2025 at Teater Salihara. This is the second installment in the ‘Kapan?’ series, which started with Kapan Resign? (“When Are You Resigning?”) in 2023.

This interactive musical was produced by Kevin Aldrian and Shafiq Husein and directed by Venytha Yoshiantini. The script was written by Ajeng Sharfina, Lizzie Chan, Albertus Raynaldi, and Putera Radhitya Mulyono, with music by Felita Kezia Chandra and vocal direction by Bernice Nikki. Albertus Raynaldi and Angela Joanna served as artistic directors, working with Olivia Dwiyanti & Putera Radhitya Mulyono as set and props designers, Brandon A. Barends as lighting designer, and Nathanael Paskah Serullo as sound designer.

Kapan Nikah? tells the story of Monika, a 31-year-old woman (Amanda Elmasyafiqa) who owns her own wedding organizer business. She’s in a blissful relationship with Adi (Reza Andriyanto), a 35-year-old doctor.

But everything changes when Adi’s parents (Anggita Dewi Yunissa and Kevin Wibowo) begin to push him to pursue marriage, hoping to solidify the relationship. When Adi tells Monika about this expectation, Monika flies into a rage, accusing him of hiding it from her.

As Monika takes some time to consider the idea of marriage, she also gets differing views from the people in her life. Her once-married best friend Satya (Sandy Thaddeus) laments that his marriage ended in a divorce. He tells Monika to take it slow to avoid making the wrong decision.

Meanwhile, a group of Monika’s mom’s friends, led by the rambunctious duo Tante Puja (Alvira Audri Salshabila) and Tante Puji (Gina Dewi), pushes Monika to marry as soon as possible. They believe life begins after marriage and it offers stability.

While being between marriage and not, Monika also has to contend with the unreasonable demands of her high profile clients Karina (Maria Giena) and her mother Sita Dewi (Florentina Resa Kawatu), while also organizing the marriage of her own cousin Farah (Shana Arabella) marriage to Rio (Thomas Jordy Orno).

The stress of seemingly irreconcilable expectations only serves to further confuse Monika. She and Adi agree to meet up again. As Monika rambles about everything that’s been in her mind – including her clients cancelling on her – Adi tries to get her in, but keeps getting cut off. He finally blows up and calls Monika out for not listening to him. He tells Monika that his parents are paying for him to get his master’s degree in Australia, in a bid to force Adi to either marry Monika or break up with her.

Monika is now at her lowest point, until her mother Astuti (Amelia Budhianto Anjani) consoles her and shares her own story of marriage – one of love between her and Monika’s late father. Through this heart to heart, tender moment, Monika finally calms down and processes everything that’s been in her mind.

She apologizes to Adi, and Adi likewise apologizes to Monika, saying that he has firmly rejected her parents’ attempt at strong-arming him into making a decision. Now the decision is left to Monika. At her cousin’s wedding, Monika is ready to make her decision.

This is where the interactivity of the piece comes in – the audience gets to vote by putting up the card they received at the ticket box. Should more people vote for her to get married (which happens in the show I attended), Monika will propose to Adi – who happens to be planning the same. Conversely, if there were more people voting for 'not married’, the couple agrees to postpone the marriage to work on themselves first. 

First and foremost, Kapan Nikah? is an achievement in directing and art design. The creative team, led by director Venytha Yoshiantini, had a strong, meticulous vision for the show that was virtually executed perfectly.

Kapan Nikah? is staged in an arena set up in Teater Salihara’s black box theater. The audience members are seated on four sides of the stage area. This in itself is already a rare decision, as it provides another layer of challenge in blocking the show. It’s interesting to note though that arena staging was recently seen in smaller productions like OMK SanMaRe’s Arah Pulang and Pranalika’s Footlights and Friendships.

Each scene had a particular treatment to it, utilizing the different pieces of the artistic design elements. And nowhere is it more obvious than the opening scene. In it, we see Monika checking the preparations for her cousin’s engagement party. The huge stretches of white fabric suspended in the rafters come down to form a veil surrounding Monika, before again revealing her, creating a sacred, ethereal feel.

When the audience enters the theater, there are four decorated arches that line up the entrance, forming a sort of a welcoming gate typically seen in modern Indonesian weddings. To my surprise, these arches are not merely static decor pieces, but also used as set pieces. In the opening number, the four arches are moved around by the members of the ensemble across the stage. In addition to the four arches, the cast members also move around small modular, movable platforms.

The choreography in how these set pieces move is a theatrical piece on its own. The way the different pieces gracefully glide across the wooden floor is reminiscent of a figure skating performance. And of course, they’re not left accompanied, but in perfect harmony with the cast members, lighting, and music. Coordinating the many moving pieces to move not only efficiently and safely, but also beautifully, requires such a high level of planning and creative vision that’s rarely seen. The fact that the directors and stage management team made it look easy is nothing short of monumental. For a community production, it sets a level of quality that easily eclipses many professional productions. There were only a few moments where the show’s technical side felt a bit shaky – typically when the cast members are moving atop the unlocked platforms, moving said wheeled platforms in a way that seems unintentional.

The cast’s wardrobe is similarly tasteful and unique, especially those worn during the wedding scenes. Rio and Farah wear a classic white suit and wedding gown, respectively, which really helps with immersion. But the more interesting looks come from the partygoers, with gorgeous dresses and even stylish outfits for the men. They work together with the luxurious lighting design.

But the direction and design in Kapan Nikah? is not only visually appealing, but also symbolic. 

As they’re talking from the rafters, Adi’s parents and Monika’s clients are also throwing crumpled pieces of red paper onto the stage, gradually covering the previously pristine surface with expectations. Even the audience members in the “Interactive” section get to join in on this by writing their expectations on the red paper given by the crew, crumpling them, and casting them onto the stage.

After the number ‘Jadi Wanita’ (‘Being a Woman’), she’s left wrapped in red ribbons, just like how the aunties tangled her in their own preconceptions of marriage. And as our main character is sitting overwhelmed with people’s expectations, their words hang around her in giant banners. When she finally gets some reprieve from her mother’s reassurance, the banners likewise fall down (as a trivia, the untying of the banners are done manually by a team of death-defying stage hands).

This makes the show a bona fide visual and musical delight, with each scene bringing their own surprise like a box of chocolate. The direction also considers the arena seating, making sure the cast never faces one way for too long. Although in one scene, this was accomplished by Adi rolling the movable platform using his legs, which made for an amusing, if a bit distracting, sight.

But more than that, I’m positive that the thespians and theatermakers are in awe of the expertise on display to make the show run so smoothly. I found myself agape at how the team made the most of Salihara’s very limited space. The fly bars were full of various machinery and decor, yet nothing obstructed one another (although I was unlucky and the hanging banners kinda blocked a big part of my view for one scene).

Now, while the directorial touch is among the finest in business, the story is much more contentious. But that might not be a bad thing for Kapan Nikah? in particular.

First, the show runs for only about 90 minutes. Unavoidably, the writers have to choose which parts to omit and which parts to keep. In the end, the show seeks to represent the many conflicting mainstream views regarding marriage in contemporary Indonesian society. In this regard, it mostly succeeds. There are clear arguments for and against marriage.

Consequently, there are details about Monika and Adi that can be seen as left under-explored. Chief among this, at least to me, is how the relationship started and why it’s worth keeping. Monika and Adi’s romance comes across as a typical Jakartan relationship, which might be helpful in making them relatable, but doesn’t make for particularly gripping theater. The dramatic, elevated direction contrasts the subdued relationship.

Furthermore, Monika’s hesitance to get married is hard to grasp. She most often cites her career as the reason behind her not wanting to get married, yet Adi is fully supportive of her career and even his parents don’t really have a problem with it.

This vague apprehension might be realistic and nuanced, but it doesn’t gel well with the show’s brisk length and spectacle-filled presentation. The show feels more like a philosophical rumination on marriage itself, rather than a story about actual people. Again, this might be intentional, but it results in a main conflict that doesn’t feel strong or well-defined enough for a 90-minute show (especially since a substantial amount of that runtime goes to the side characters).

However, when I talk with friends after the show, it’s apparent that the script already provides enough material for people to project their own thoughts about marriage and evoke their emotions. For example, a friend mentioned that they feel Adi and Monika should not be married because they are still both immature – Adi being reluctant to stand up to his parents, and Monika having a short temper. These are both qualities that are indeed apparent in the show. I personally didn’t focus much on these personal failings because Monika herself doesn’t.

The result of the ending vote is another evidence that the show succeeds in letting the audience interpret the story for themselves. Through the 7 showtimes, 4 of them ended in the couple getting married, and 3 in them not getting married. Evidently, the audiences consider both options valid based on the show’s arguments.

Other than the ending, there were several other moments of interaction. Most prominently, before the show starts proper, Tante Puja and Tante Puji have an improvised banter between them. They also approach the audience members in the “Interactive” area, striking up light-hearted conversations about marriage and relationships.

Tante Puja and Puji both bring a great, consistent energy to start the show and welcome the audience. But they have personalities that are too similar – loud, playful, and pro-marriage. This makes their segments not as dynamic as they could have been.

As for the voting, it’s open for all audiences, both those in the “Interactive” and “Semi Interactive” seats (with a price difference of Rp100.000 between them). Although the results were more or less even, the process came at an awkward point in the story. The card for voting has two sides “Sah” and “Tidak Sah”, literally meaning “Valid/Legitimate” and “Invalid/Illegitimate”, phrases usually uttered by the audience at the exchanging of vows during a wedding procession. But the voting comes when Monika meets Adi again at her cousin’s wedding, before anyone has proposed, much less getting married. It makes the choice of words feel incongruous.

Moving on to the performances, they’re all great or even better. Amanda Elmasyafiqa’s leading performance as Monika is a solid one, owing to her strong and beautiful vocal performance. She’s a newcomer to the musical theater scene and I look forward to seeing her in other roles.

Reza Andriyanto as Adi has an undeniable masculine charm that’s befitting of a love interest. His singing voice is pleasant, although slightly drowned whenever he sings a duet with Monika. Satya’s actor Sandy Thaddeus is another performer making their debut in musical theater. He’s immediately likeable and really fun to watch, a good match to his high-energy song (although some words were a bit hard to catch due to the fast pace).

But the performance that steals the show is by Amelia Budhianto Anjani as Astuti, Monika’s mother. Her solo song showcases her tremendous voice, which hauntingly fills the whole theater. With just one song, we can feel the depth and weight of her past love.

The music by Felita Kezia is an eclectic collection of various musical styles. They are all pleasant to listen to and quite often interesting – the title song has a part that references, appropriately enough, the Bridal Chorus by Wagner. Astuti’s song is heart-wrenchingly beautiful, while Satya’s is energetic and exciting. And they all sound great – the show’s sound engineering allows the music to be heard alongside the cast’s vocals without too much problem.

Kapan Nikah? is an astounding achievement in theatermaking. The creative decisions are not only thoughtful and bold, but also executed with professional-level expertise. Although the story still has room for improvement in terms of the characters and interactivity, it still manages to challenge people to think about marriage – which is its main goal, after all.

With the Eid holidays coming soon, people are sure to ask “kapan nikah?” to the unmarried people in their life. Those who watched this show will remember that such a question carries considerable baggage behind it, both cultural and personal. And hopefully, we will be able to be kinder to everyone – not only to people who get asked the question, but also to those asking the question.

Show photos by frame a trip, photoshoot photos by @bareodds.

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