Idham Ardi Nurcahyo was a student of Indonesian Literature at Sebelas Maret University (UNS), entering the class of 2010. He chose this major after being inspired by the film “Soe Hok Gie.” Since his university days, he began to immerse himself in the world of theater and joined the Theatre Activity Unit for Students (Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa Teater TESA). Idham served as the chairman of TESA during the 2011-2013 period and directed his first play within the group.
In 2013, he formed an independent theater group called Teater Sandilara. He has been the director and playwright for the group ever since. Alongside this group, which serves as his creative laboratory, he has written 28 script plays that have been published and directed approximately 50 plays.
The course that significantly influenced his thinking and found its way into his theatrical works is Postcolonialism and post-structural theories, particularly Michel Foucault’s Discourse-Power theory. This theory became an analytical tool in his thesis titled “Discourse-Power of Universal Humanism in the Novel Saman by Ayu Utami.” While working on his thesis, with the same perspective—Discourse-Power theory, he also completed a play titled “Sri (Sebuah Mencari).”
His engagement with post-colonial and post-structuralist thoughts also led him to the understanding that if he wanted to maintain the independence of his creative works, he needed to establish his own institutions. Thus, in addition to forming Teater Sandilara, he also established the book publishing house Ad Hoc Pustaka in 2017 and Kutub Buku in 2019.
He has received several awards, such as the first place in Playwriting at the Central Java Literary Festival 2019 for the play “Mbah Pon” (2019), nomination for Prasidatama 2021 from Balai Bahasa Jawa Tengah in the Manuscript Drama category for the play “Kost Bebas Campur” (2021), Prasidatama Award 2022 from Balai Bahasa Jawa Tengah in the Manuscript Drama category for the play “Mijah dan Tarjo” (2021), and nomination for Prasidatama 2023 from Balai Bahasa Jawa Tengah in the Manuscript Drama category for the play “Sandiwara Salah Kejadian” (2021).