Contemporary theater<\/p>\n
On a four-month trip from England around the world studying
\ncontemporary theater in India, Indonesia, Canada and the U.S., I
\nwas interested to read in The Jakarta Post, (Sunday, June 15)
\nabout the struggle for survival of traditional forms of theater
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Growing tourism will help keep these alive into the next
\nmillennium and with Indonesia's rapidly developing economic
\nwealth, I am sure that Indonesians will also demand more than
\nwhat most television stations presently offer: a diet of soap
\nthat leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.<\/p>\n
But what about non-traditional theater? I can only speak from
\nvery limited knowledge of the contemporary scene, but from what I
\nhave experienced already I would say that this aspect of
\nIndonesian cultural life deserves support and success.<\/p>\n
My own directorial work has been particularly with the work of
\nShakespeare, and having heard in the United Kingdom of the work
\ndone at Taman Ismail Marzuki, I was delighted a few days ago to
\nbe invited to watch a rehearsal of Theater Lembaga's presentation
\nof Julius Caesar, one of Shakespeare's most powerful political
\nplays, directed by Joseph Ginting and A Azuzan JG, to be staged
\nin July at the Graha Bhakti Budaya building at TIM.<\/p>\n
A month ago I saw Shakespeare's Hamlet performed in northern
\nIndia and the aim of the production was obvious to ape a
\ntraditional British form of presentation -- that most Britons
\nwould now consider very old-fashioned. Like many of Shakespeare's
\nplays Hamlet can be set in any time and any place, and gain new
\nlife and relevance from this transposition. One example is the
\nrecent screen enactment of Romeo and Juliet set in Miami Beach in
\nthe 1990s, a long way from Verona. This excellent interpretation
\nwas recently released in Indonesia. But the Indian version of
\nHamlet did not portray anything of India or the twentieth
\ncentury, or the people of the time which I think it should have
\ndone.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Theater Lembaga's Julius Caesar benefits
\nfrom a visually exciting and physical setting that seems to owe
\nmore to Eastern than Western theater traditions. The important
\ncrowd scenes are particularly dynamic, with superb groupings and
\nbrilliantly choreographed movement. The acting is more passionate
\nthan you will see in much Western theater, and as a non-
\nIndonesian speaker I followed every nuance of their moods. The
\nspecially composed music heightens the action and themes of the
\nplay, and the contemporary Indonesian costumes help to intensify
\nthe personal and political messages of the play.<\/p>\n
To me, as a Western practitioner, this production exemplifies
\nwhat theater can -- and should -- do: take the traditions of the
\npast and mold them to the needs of today and tomorrow.
\nShakespeare may have lived four centuries ago on a small offshore
\nEuropean island, but he is now a citizen of the world who can be
\nused to help strengthen theater and other arts everywhere. It is
\nnot such a long jump from 1590s London to 1990s Jakarta. With
\nwork such as Theater Lembaga's, contemporary theater seems to be
\nin safe hands. I urge your readers to see this production to
\nexperience what theater can teach us about ourselves and our
\nsociety on the brink of the next millennium.<\/p>\n
MICHAEL DAY<\/p>\n
Director of Drama<\/p>\n
Giggleswick, UK<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/contemporary-theater-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }