'La Galigo' great, but obscure

'La Galigo' great, but obscure

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The much-anticipated I La Galigo theater performance made its
Jakarta gala premiere on Saturday, when President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and First Lady Kristiani Herawati watched the Bugis'
epic-inspired work for the first time.

I La Galigo opens for public audience on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12
at 7 p.m. Shuttle buses for theater-goers will be available at
Senayan, Central Jakarta.

The gala premiere at Teater Tanah Airku at Taman Mini
Indonesia Indah (TMII) was well-attended, with guests including
top government officials like the State Minister of Culture and
Tourism Jero Wacik.

The performance was a three-hour-and-fifteen-minute visual
feast with exquisite lighting and clever property exploits and
colorful costumes.

The music by Surakarta-based musician Rahayu Supanggah was
superb, and the chanting of ancient Bugis verses by Puang Martoa
Saidi was a most moving experience.

I La Galigo is indeed an extravagant introductory to the
magnificent 300,000-verse poem Sureq Galigo, an erstwhile and
obscure Bugis epic, which has now garnered interest from the
world thanks to Bali-based filmmaker Rhoda Grauer, American
theater director Robert Wilson, and Milan-based Change Performing
Arts (CPA).

CPA has brought the show to the Netherlands, France, Spain,
Italy and recently to the United States. CPA's director,
Elisabetta di Mambro, said that so far in terms of audience
reception I La Galigo was among CPA's top three productions from
12 current international productions.

Indonesians at home have so far only heard reports about the
show's success from the rave reviews in the international media.

However, like many Indonesian critics have written since the
performance's World Premiere in Singapore in March 2004, the show
is a little lacking in meaning and emotion.

Especially for those who have already read parts of the
manuscript or read papers on the magnificent poetry, Wilson's
extravagant work misses the wild imagination of the epic.

However, at the gala premiere on Saturday, the performance
received a five-minute standing ovation.

The production, which reportedly cost Rp 5 billion (about
US$500,000) of which Rp 2 billion was for the superb lighting,
was brought to Indonesian audiences by the Jakarta Convention and
Exhibition Bureau, and was largely supported by Sampoerna Untuk
Indonesia.

Information: www.ilagaligo.com