Tony Prabowo to stage Calon Arang

Composer Tony Prabowo and essayist Goenawan Mohammad are due to collaborate in a contemporary music concert at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) arts center.

The event, scheduled for August 2006, is expected to include five compositions, including Pastoral and The King's Witch operettas.

The concert will involve musicians Joel Sachs and Stephanie Griffin from the United States, choreographer Sen Hea Ha from Korea and Batavia Madrigal Singers conducted by Avip Priatna.

"I will turn the text and the music (from Goenawan and Tony respectively) into a stage play," director Yudi Ahmad Tajudin told a press briefing recently.

Pastoral, a poem about happiness, will be performed by singers Nyak Ina Raseuki and Binu D. Sukarman.

Meanwhile, The King's Witch is a legend about Calon Arang, a witch from a small village of Girah, Kediri, East Java. Her daughter, Manjali, cannot find a man to marry because all men are afraid of Calon Arang.

The angry Calon Arang creates an epidemic that affects the whole kingdom, which then prompts King Airlangga to assign Empu Bharada to defeat the witch.

The legend is told from the king's point of view. It is believed that Calon Arang and the people of Girah had their own version.

The presentation attempts to portray another version of the story about Calon Arang. "This is not an opera, but rather a musical concert," said Goenawan who wrote the script.

The King's Witch was first staged in New York in 1999. -- JP