Beautiful Beasts

Leong Su Zhen | leongsz@hotmail.com
the ridge transmedia
A NUSSU Publication

 Ancient temples, great empires, reluctant princesses…

Prambanan: A Thousand Beauties is set in a world vastly different from ours. A fusion musical that combines contemporary dance, music with traditional Javanese performing arts, it promises to be an entrancing performance that serves as great escape from ever piling up paperwork.

With a cast and crew from PINUS (Perhimpunan Indonesia National University of Singapore), Prambanan is presented by the NUS Centre for the Arts as part of the Exxon Mobil Campus Concert series.

We interview the Program Team behind the production: Citra (FASS/Year 2), Yanadi (FOE/Year 2) and Gabriela (FOS/Year 1). As the respective heads of the dance, music and acting segments of Prambanan, they offer a unique insight into the production.

“It has a sad ending,” warns Citra. The musical is based on a myth about a man’s attempt to win the love of a princess, a plot that has traditionally been interleaved with elements of deceit and rejection.

Hardly a cheerful story as it goes, and one wonders why this was picked over others. Citra is quick to clarify. “We wanted to make a musical about legends, and [this] is the best legend of all.”

The crown jewel in a series of year long activities to promote Indonesian culture, every expense has been made to ensure that the event is a glamorous one.

Involving sumptuous traditional Javanese costumes, these have been loaned from the Indonesian Embassy and Sekolah Indonesia di Sinagpura (SIS). However, don’t go away thinking that this will be a stodgy display of traditional arts.

Elaborating further, Yannadi explains the rationale for a fusion piece, “Not everybody can enjoy traditional arts, so a blend of the contemporary and traditional [can] cater to more people.” Indeed, the old legend is considerably spiced up, being set to contemporary dance and music as well as being scripted in modern English.

Adding on, he reveals that not only will there be original compositions, the musical would also involve live music, in particular, featuring the angklung, a traditional bamboo instrument played by shaking it.

As this is the first time PINUS is putting on a musical, tension has been mounting to produce a good show. Their previous production, which was a concert, When I was in Indonesia, was an entire different kettle of fish all together, at least when it came to producing.

“With a concert, you know how it’ll be like,” explains Citra, “but with this, we’re all newbies”.

Having worked through twice-weekly rehearsals much of the one month break even as others were enjoying a well-deserved holiday, they have finally reached their final phase, with a full-dress rehearsal at the University Cultural Centre in the works.

With only a 15-member crew that also doubles as part of the 40-strong cast, it is no wonder that the process as been a demanding if not, fulfilling one.

Aptly summing up the process of three to four months as “fun and crazy”, Gabriela empathetically declares, “Working on Prambanan [has been] quite stressful and challenging”, to rueful grins and nods from her two teammates.

With such enthusiasm from cast and crew, it is clear that Prambanan will be quite the spectacle come performance night…

Prambanan: A Thousand Beauties will be staged at the UCC (University Cultural Centre) on Tue, 5 Feb 08, 8pm. Admission is free.