'Galigo' production gets rousing reception in Singapore
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Singapore
Thunderous applause and a standing ovation greeted the close of Friday's world theatrical premiere of I La Galigo, directed by the acclaimed Robert Wilson and featuring more than 50 of Indonesia's finest performers.
The venue was the 2,000-seat Theater at the Esplanade in Singapore, but it could have been a gala night in Jakarta, as batik was the attire of choice. Among the audience were the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo, businessman Tanri Abeng, arts patron Pia Alisjahbana, women's rights activist Saparinah Sadli and artist Ratna Riantiarno.
"This will compel us to get up and rise with dignity again. It has brought to our attention our cultural background which we had forgotten," cultural expert Toeti Heraty said after the performance, the first of the two consecutive premiere nights.
Inspired by the 14th century South Sulawesi epic poem Sureq Galigo, I La Galigo brings together theater, dance, music, and poetry, consisting of 12 parts and running about three hours and 15 minutes with no intermission.
The production, adapted from the original 600 folio-page poem by Rhoda Grauer, traces the divine origins of the incestuous brother and sister, Sawerigading and We Cudaiq, considered the original ancestors of the Bugis people of South Sulawesi. It begins at the creation of the world, and ends at the point when the gods left the Middle World to its own devices.
The poem historically served as an example for noble behavior, daily etiquette, as a guide for architectural construction, determinant for the best days to set sail, plant and harvest, and as a resource for organizing traditional ceremonies.
"I knew (the story) through a friend somewhat, but I didn't know it fully. But it (the performance) was quite amazing, I thought it was staggering, actually," audience member Anita Kapoor from Singapore said.
The interest was evident from the high turnout of 100 people at a public forum about the play on Saturday. Co-hosted by the Asia Research Institute and the Esplanade, the forum discussed Sureq Galigo, its history, role in society and transformation into the current production.
Speakers at the public forum included Leonard Andaya from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Hawaii, University of Leeds' Ian Caldwell and the head of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) Jakarta, Roger Tol, as well as Bugis cultural figures, director Wilson, artists and organizers involved in the production.
The production will travel to Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam in May, then to Forum Universal de les Cultures in Barcelona, Les Nuits de Fourviere Rhone in Lyon, the Ravenna Festival in Italy in June, and to the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in June 2005.
I La Galigo is produced by Change Performing Arts in partnership with Bali Purnati Center for the Arts.