'Wayang orang' festival next week

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta will host the fourth national festival of traditional Javanese opera, or wayang orang, from June 30 through July 15.

The festival hopes to preserve the theatrical show that was once highly popular in Central Java, especially in the ancient cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

Committee chairman Soeparmo said on Wednesday that the two week revelry to be opened by the Minister of Education and Culture, Wardiman Djojonegoro, will take place at the Taman Ismail Marzuki.

The event, which the committee promises will be the "most glamorous ever" will feature 30 opera groups from various provinces, 18 of those are children's groups, Soeparmo said.

Also meant to enliven the 50th anniversary of Indonesia's Independence Day, the festival will be followed by seminars from July 20 through 21, in which a book on the opera will be launched.

Soeparmo said that five traditional operas will be performed in Jakarta in July. (pan)