Little cultural light at the end of rainbow legend

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): The joint Japanese-Indonesian theater production of Legenda Pelangi (The Rainbow Legend) should have served as a cultural bridge between the two nations. Instead, it highlighted differences.

Students from the Jakarta Arts Institute, Bandung's Indonesia Arts College and Yogyakarta's Indonesia Arts Institute joined with Japanese artists from the Saitama Arts Institute, a theater group from suburban Tokyo, for the production at Graha Bhakti Budaya last weekend.

They chose a folktale familiar to people of both nations -- Indonesians call it Joko Tarub, and Japanese know it as Hagoromo (Angel's Scarf).

Despite the familiarity with the storyline, Legenda Pelangi did not shine. The tale of a mere mortal marrying a beautiful angel who later returns to heaven, fell flat without emotion.

The biggest challenge in a joint theater production like this is language. Everyone knows Japanese speak Japanese, and Indonesians converse in Indonesian. However, instead of trying to find a common ground, Legenda Pelangi tried to sidestep the language muddle.

Their solution was splitting the tasks. The Indonesian artists took the talking roles of narrating poems or acting on stage.

Their Japanese counterparts did not open their mouths at all. Their task was confined to dancing beautifully on stage.

Consequently, not only did the language problem linger, but also the divisions emerged. The performance showed no creative unity nor integration between the two nations. There was hardly any sign they had rehearsed together for two months in Saitama, and performed the play there earlier this year.

Worse, the acting-dancing division caused confusion. A Japanese Nawangwulan first appeared on stage dancing with six other (Japanese) angels.

In the next act, a different Nawangwulan appeared. This time, an Indonesian actress played the role of the angel who has already assumed a human's life.

It was a pity the Japanese actresses did not participate in more dramatic roles; they were merely there to look beautiful. The dancing was elegant, yet there was a lack of substance. It failed to convey the playful mood of the angels while they were bathing in a river.

Campus

The impression of just another campus theater production was inevitable. The cast was clearly struggling to deliver a professional performance. The script did not help.

One of the girls reading the accompanying poetry said at one point, "We will have a romantic dream about this romantic love."

Easily said, but it was never clear whether Legenda Pelangi was a tragic or comic drama. Some actors were serious, but others muttered childish jokes. The narrator was played archly as an effeminate man.

It was also fuzzy whether this was a theater or dance performance. Legenda Pelangi consisted of two parts, with the man-angel love story of the opening relying mostly on acting and dramatic skills.

While the first part was colorful and dreamy, the second was grim and depressing, and all dance.

Choreographed by Akiko Kanda, it portrayed how humans struggle through a disaster's aftermath. Dressed in loose-fitting dark brown clothes, the Japanese and Indonesian artists danced together to reflect human anxiety while a blurred film was projected onto the screen behind.

Wars, environmental disasters and nuclear threat have traditionally been Japan's biggest concerns. They are also the reflection of their dark past. World War II still scars the nation. They are traumatized by nuclear war after atomic bombs destroyed two of their cities and killed the innocent. Pollution is the hefty price they had to pay for their industrialization.

Despite the disappointing performance, Legenda Pelangi was not a total failure. The use of shadow puppets in some acts, instead of humans, was impressively creative. Written by Ken Kanda, the poems were an alternative to standard monologue narration.

Legenda Pelangi, which has the Japanese title Niji no Densetsu, was also staged in Bandung after the Jakarta performance. Performances will be held today and tomorrow in Yogyakarta.