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'Dionysus' Greek drama with Indonesian flavor
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Tragic story: A past performance of 'Dionysus' by Suzuki Company of Toga. (Suzuki Company of Toga/File)
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resenting a once successful theater show in a different fashion is a challenge with considerable burden to be borne by the entire troupe involved.
Bumi Purnati, an Indonesian art event production house, is taking on the tough job of staging Dionysus along with the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT), a Japanese theater troupe.
The project began in 2015 when SCOT founder and director Tadashi Suzuki met with Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum, the owner of Jakartabased Bumi Purnati. During the meeting, they explored a collaboration between SCOT and Bumi Purnati in producing Dionysus in a unique way.
Bumi Purnati was later invited to watch a Dionysus performance by SCOT, which inspired them to reinterpret the play in a joint composition involving Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese actors.
Bumi Purnati recruited the Indonesian actors who received intensive training alongside their Chinese and Japanese counterparts under SCOT.
Restu said that the auditions for talent in the new Dionysus production took place nationwide because they would later use the perfomers’ respective mother tongues in rendering the theatrical work.
Batak, Rejang, Manado, Madurese and Sundanese languages and Bayumas and Yogyakartan dialects are spoken on stage. Composer Midori Takada included a diverse array of local instruments in the musical arrangement for Dionysus.
“We searched for actors from different regions to enable them to get a better insight on the story in their own tongues,” said Restu. Twelve prospective artists were selected after the audition process ended in October.
Restu affirmed the importance of a quality production, saying that both new actors and those with experience on stage would undergo the same training.
Costume designer Auguste Soesastro said he prepared by closely watching past versions of the play and that he incorporated traditional elements of Indonesian cloths in his designs. The SCOT costume collection was made of high-quality materials, he added.
“Appearing in common models, the material was of superb quality, making the costumes highly durable,” Auguste said.
Dionysus, adapted by SCOT from ancient Greek tragedy The Bacchae, tells the story of Dionysius, the God of Wine who intends to punish Pentheus, the King of Thebes.
In this context, both production teams show that a state of chaos prevails because of the arbitrariness of those in power. Showings of Dionysus were held at Toga Art Park in Toyama prefecture, Japan, from August to September 2018, while the Indonesian debut followed in October 2018.
