Hanindawan Sutikno or better known as Hanindawan (born in Surakarta, Central Java, December 4, 1959; age 57 years) is an Indonesian literary and theater figure. He has been the leader of the Gidag Gidig Solo Theater since 1982. Hanindawan is one of the pioneers in the development of theater groups in Surakarta through his works. Currently, he is listed as an employee at Taman Budaya Jawa Tengah for the theater division. His ability in the field of theater, made him appointed to polish the speech style of the president of the Republic of Indonesia, Jokowi
From a young age, Hanindawan has loved the world of art. His house is not far from RRI Surakarta, where art performances are often held, which has always piqued his interest in watching it. At that time, Hanin was still in elementary school and lived with her grandmother, and chose not to move with her father to Jakarta.
RRI Surakarta is the center of arts activities in Solo. Almost every night there are performances of wayang kulit, wayang orang, ketoprak, poetry readings, keroncong, and various other folk arts. It was in such an environment that little Hanin began his introduction to art. He watched the show on the RRI stage by mbludhus (entering clandestinely without buying a ticket) to fulfill his desire to watch it.
When he entered SMAN 4 Surakarta, 1977, at the suggestion of a friend, he joined a youth theater group whose members were all students from the local high school. The group, Teater Gidag Gidig, was founded on 21 December 1976, led by Bambang Sugiarto, Hanin’s upperclassman, who was also the director. Graduated from high school, 1980, Hanindawan entered the Department of Indonesian Literature, Faculty of Letters, Sebelas Maret University, Solo. Even though during high school he majored in science. Indonesian literature was chosen because it is closest to his hobby, theater.
On campus, Hanin’s theatrical activities are increasingly becoming. However, he instead felt bored. The saturation arises, because the urge for theater is very strong but cannot be accommodated in stagnant group expressions. So, in 1982, Hanin decided to quit Gidag Gidig. But a few months later, Bambang Sugiarto actually contacted him and asked him to be active again, he was even offered to lead and train new members.
Gidag Gidig and Hanindawan are then like two sides of a coin. Its members, now no longer the local high school students, but together with this group, Hanin also spread the theater ‘virus’ to schools in surrounding Solo, and the year 1990 was the time when the creativity of theater groups in Solo reached its peak.
Since 1990, Hanindawan has been listed as an employee at Taman Budaya Jawa Tengah Surakarta. He is entrusted with managing the theater committee whose job is to serve and accommodate theater groups that wish to perform at TBJT.
In fact, this man’s appearance was too neat for a stage person. T-shirts or shirts worn are always clean and neatly ironed. Just as neatly shaved with almost bald hair. He is also very polite and calm. Hanindawan is special because until now he has been the driving force for theatrical life in Solo and the surrounding cities. He used to linger in remote villages just to give scriptwriting workshops and theater practice for the children and youth there.