RI, Aussie artists to stage 'Sawung Galing' legend

RI, Aussie artists to stage 'Sawung Galing' legend

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

A joint theater production, Kembalinya Legenda Sawung Galing (The Sawung Galing legend returns), involving noted Indonesian musician cum composer Sawung Jabo as the music director and Australian artistic director and playwright Don Mamouney, will be performed this month in the five major Javanese cities of Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Jakarta, Surakarta and Bandung.

The musical drama was organized by the Sydney-based Australian Sidetrack Performance Group, founded by Mamouney, Wot Cross- Cultural Synergy, an Australian non-governmental organization promoting cross-cultural relations between Indonesia and Australia, and Jabo, with the support of governmental institutions of both countries and local sponsors.

The debut performance will be held in Yogyakarta on Saturday, Sept. 4, in Nitiprayan village, Kasihan subdistrict, Bantul regency, which has hosted the play's nine-week rehearsal. It will be performed as part of the village's annual cultural festival, Kenduri Seni Desa, which runs this year from Sept. 4 to Sept. 5.

Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, Mamouney, who has traveled to Indonesia three times, said the work was a realization of his four-year dream of making a work set in Indonesia for people who did not normally attend theater performances.

In light of this aim, admission to the play is free in all five cities.

"The reason is ideological. I want to be involved in a work that creates a people-to-people relationship. It's very important to me that we are able to perform in order to be taught. It's indeed an interesting phenomenon that theater learns from the audience," said Mamouney, that it was time for theater to learn and to gain strength from the community.

In recent years, according to Mamouney, theater had been overshadowed by television programs, and was increasingly becoming an artistic genre for the rich.

As someone passionate about theater, Mamouney believes that it is through those who normally do not watch theatrical performances that theater will be renewed; and that theater will draw strength from this fresh, new audience.

"I see this as an opportunity to work with the community and play a role in the renewal of the theater world," said Mamouney, a graduate of Sydney's Ensemble Theater School and London's Mount View Theater College. He had thus worried that even a small admission fee would deter local people from coming to the performance and so prevent him from learning something from a mass audience.

Featuring the talents of 12 Indonesian performers and five musicians -- including Jabo -- the performance runs two hours and 25 minutes and is adapted freely from the Sawung Galing legend of East Java. The legend is of a young heroic boy called Joko Beruk and a black, supernatural rooster called Sawung Galing.

In Mamouney's adaptation, the names of the story's original setting and of some of the supporting characters have been changed to set the legend in contemporary times. For example, the names of the kings and their realms have been changed to King Boom Boom and King Bang Bang of the warring countries of Fazzar and Crazzar, respectively.

What is also interesting is that the protagonist Udawa, who is a boy in the original legend, has been changed to Udawi, a girl.

"It's simply to acknowledge that women play an important role in today's politics and leadership," said the Victoria-born Mamouney, but declined to say whether the play particularly reflected upon the Indonesian or global leadership.

Although the play was adapted from an Indonesian legend, Mamouney does not think it is unique and specific to Indonesia. He has thus adapted it in its retelling as a universal story, with its major theme about the lack of leadership in the world today. Therefore, it is not about America, England, Australia or Africa, nor is it specifically about Indonesia.

"My hope is the play, which starts (its tour) in Nitiprayan, will eventually find its way into international festival circuits," he said. Mamouney also intends to take Sawung Galing to Australia, if financial support was available.

"I do think it has the potential not just to go to Australia, but also to other places in Asia and Europe. I hope that through the play, we can build a bridge -- not only between the two countries, but also between the Indonesian and Australian theater communities and those of other countries," he said.

He hoped doing so would not only expand the scope of theater, but also develop a close understanding between peoples, undermine stereotypes and expose the vulnerability of leadership.

Mamouney said although the play carried a serious message, it was also rich in humor and comedy and enjoyable for everyone, as it grew out of an interactive experience with performers and local villagers watching rehearsals -- and because the original story was told through traditional performing arts, which was the main form of community entertainment in the past.

For Mamouney, who has been working in theater for about 30 years and has performed across the world, including in the U.S., Canada, England and several Asian countries, the debut performance in Nitiprayan would be considerably special compared to the other performances, particularly because it would be performed in a rice field in the village.

State Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika and Australian Ambassador to Indonesia David Ritchie are scheduled to attend the performance in Nitiprayan.