Indonesian Art Festival IV closes last Saturday (13/3) by bringing Wayang Kulit to The Substation, giving Singapore an authentic taste of our Indonesian culture. Though it marked the end of IAF IV, the festival reached its climax the previous Saturday (6/3) with Maha Brata The Musical. Now, here comes the much-anticipated Diaspora reviews of Indonesian Art Festival Maha Brata, one by Farid Arrisyad and one by Siti Fatimah Ayuningdyah. Photography by Prayudi Utomo.
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Written by Farid Arrisyad
After waiting two years for the return of Indonesian Art Festival, last Saturday (6/3) marked its peak with Maha Brata the Musical. Was the wait worthy? I thought it was. One word to describe it: “fusion”.
IAF IV musical night tells the story of Mahabhrata – a sacred legend shared by the Asian peninsula – rewritten for Indonesian Arts Festival.
The writing blended the traditional with a contemporary approach. It was not a modern adaptation nor a true following of the traditional order. Daniel Kevin Kristian’s interpretation has removed itself from Mahabharata though keeping most of the original characters. At best, they are creating another standalone chapter to the original epic.
IAF’s Maha Brata tells a story of Maha (Prima Aulia Gusta) and Brata (Nico Theodorus), two brothers who will inherit a magical potion from their grandfather. The story revolves around anger and revenge. Suara (Andrew Sophian Putra) provokes Maha to harm Brata so Maha will keep the potion for himself. They engage in a duel—a pantun duel, no less. The use of pantun was a nice touch.
But, what is the meaning of great stage writing without the right actors?
I rarely say this in my reviews, but I applaud the casting directors. The right people were given the right characters (just to be fair, I won’t name names). But, here comes the trouble! Though most actors were “right on the nose”, it’s easy to see who were the mediocre ones (a tiny weeny small number of them). They came on stage, do what they have to do, and exit stage left. That’s it. They disturbed the flow of energy.
The dance choreography fused traditional and contemporary dance elements. There’s nothing extraordinary about the contemporary choreo but the execution was spot on; the dancers beautifully illustrated the situation on the scene. In the first scene they added so many traditional dances that it was difficult to appreciate the beauty of each one individually.
This year, Indonesian Art Fest have embarked on a new journey. Though the Musical night was not extraordinary it was a fair execution, performed just so. Sometimes, that’s all they need to produce a great performance.
Written by Siti Fatimah Ayuningdyah
Unexpected. That is how I would personally describe “Maha Brata The Musical”. After hearing the title, I came to The Republic Cultural Center last Saturday expecting something not unlike GAYA 2008’s “Gajah Mada” – serious, grandiose, and profound. Well, the play was indeed grandiose with some profound moments here and there, but it was also surprisingly entertaining.
I must say that the playwright has done a tremendous job in writing the play. It must not have been easy to create a play in formal Bahasa Indonesia that can appeal to a generally college-aged audience, but Daniel Kevin Kristian has managed to pull that off beautifully. It was just the right mixture of light-hearted comedy and substantive storyline.
Overall, the actors gave an excellent performance. Granted, some were arguably better than others. The two lead actors were engaging, although at times seemed overshadowed by some of the secondary characters. The singing was excellent. The acting was not half bad. The dancing was phenomenal.
From the choreography, down to the individual dancers, the dancing was top notch. The prisoners’ dance was my personal favorite. It was also refreshing to see them slipping in some comedic arcs, such as the ones with Sang Lima and Suara Hati. They grabbed the audience’s attention and kept them entertained, while serving their purpose of balancing out the darker, more serious scenes. The lighting was also amazing as it set the mood of each scene perfectly for the audience.
However, the musical was not by any means flawless. I must say, the sound system in the venue was impeccable. Unfortunately, a major technical glitch took place in the middle of the second act. I believe that the audience heard the stage manager giving out instructions for a whole minute during a scene. It was a little disconcerting. Thankfully the performers recovered quickly and went on with the show. The (slightly grammatically-challenged) subtitles provided were rather distracting, especially when it lagged or froze during the scenes. Last but not least, putting the band “Efek Rumah Kaca” in between the play and the curtain call seemed a little odd to me. It dampened the energy after the play is finished. Not to mention, a number of people could not afford to wait for the curtain call.
In the end, I found the show to be thoroughly entertaining. I was majorly impressed by the singing, especially by the two female singers who played the bimbotic housewives. Sure, the play was not perfect, but with experience IAF can only get better. I cannot wait for next year’s IAF!
