Street theater, alternative for weekend entertainment

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 11/10/2001 12:00 AM  |  Life

Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thank God it's Saturday, a perfect time to escape routine and amuse ourselves. Let's see what Jakarta has on offer for tired bodies this weekend.

What about going to the nearest theater to watch America's Sweetheart? Hmm, don't think so. Hang out in cafes? Boring. How about watching some street theater?

A series of shows by performing artists from six European Union countries; France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom are ready to entertain Jakartans.

Unlike in their respected countries, where performances take place on the street, here, they will stage interesting shows at Plaza Senayan shopping center in Central Jakarta and outside Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta on Saturday and Sunday.

Plaza Senayan, according to one of the organizers, Rafaelle Quarto, was selected because ""the mall is considered like a street for Jakartans"".

Most representatives at the embassies of the participating countries said that by staging street theater, audiences would have a good time and be able to interact with the actors.

As Carmencita Palermo of the Italian Cultural Institute put it: ""There will be strong interaction between performers and audiences. It will offer free and open interactive communication, which is a worthwhile opportunity for the audience.""

Although not all 15 European Union members will take part in the event, the organizers have promised that they are some of the best artists available from their respective countries.

The organizers have also chosen to stick with their plan to stage the event despite the tragic Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and the following attacks on Afghanistan.

""We have planned this event for a long time. The six of us had met and we decided that we must go on as the event has no connection with the attack,"" said James Hollington, the British Council's arts and public relations manager.

""We also have no extra objectives by staging the event. We just want to strengthen the links between the European Union and Indonesia through a cultural event.""

In conjunction with the festival, 20 local young artists from the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) will also take part in an art exhibition at the Erasmus Huis until Nov. 24.

Here are the six performers for the festival:

Acousteel Gang (France) is a street band comprising seven musicians -- Titou Antoine, Charly Berna, Stphane Husson, Christophe Lagouardat, Antoine Taquet, David Tauzin and Toto Terny -- from the city of Bordeaux, in the southwest of France.

The band, which has performed on more than 200 stages all over the world, will focus on the use of drums to perform Caribbean-style music. They usually perform songs by the Rolling Stones, Sting and Serge Gainsbourgh, which are composed in a Calypso style.

The hip hop duo mO&mA (Germany) comprising Immo Wischhusen and Mathias Zhler promises a completely different style.

Zhler, aged 31, started breakdancing when it became a worldwide phenomenon in 1984 and has been in touch with hip hop culture ever since, while Wischhusen, aged 26, better known as flowinImmO, started his music career when he was eight as a drummer.

With different backgrounds and style, it will be interesting to see the group, which was set up in 1993, performing on stage.

Commedia dell'Arte (Italy). Directed by Marco Luly, group Luoghi dell'Arte will feature mask theater, which originated in Italy during the 16th century.

Luciana Codispoti and Luly will take on the leading roles, playing Smeraldina and Arlecchino respectively. In the show they will include comedy, which blend slapstick with improvised dialogue based on grammelot (a nonsensical language with a few Italian words thrown in).

Rillandia (the Netherlands), a recollection of memories will be staged by actor Adriaan Luteijn and actress Henriete Rietman. They play a drummer-boy and ""Miss Majorette"".

The performance, which claims to be a play for the young and those who are young at heart, will feature a combination of singing, dancing and music.

L'Home Xoc (Spain). One-man-show Alex Navarro will perform as an urban clown who is able to transform into another character at the snap of his fingers. It is a special character who breathes life into a gallery of intimate characters, a versatile catalog of beings who live together and interact. This is a comical show, as it emphasizes the use of gestures.

The Invisible Men (England) -- Ian Woods and David Solomons -- will confront the audience with their unique visual comedy and magic. This comic onslaught, which will be presented in two phases -- a 30-minute outdoor theater and a 20-minute indoor cabaret show, culminates in a stunning final.

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