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Classic plays win heart of small town
Two of Sophocles' classic plays, Oedipus the King and Antigone, grabbed the attention of the public in Singaraja, Bali, early this year
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Two of Sophocles' classic plays, Oedipus the King and Antigone, grabbed the attention of the public in Singaraja, Bali, early this year.
The plays, in their English translation, were performed by fifth-semester students from the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Art, at Ganesha Education University (Undiksha) in Singaraja on Jan. 4 and 8.
The performances were the final project for students taking the theater course. In the previous semester they had taken poetry and prose.
Oedipus was directed by IB Arya Lawa, who named his team the Sunflower Class, and likened the project to a cooking exercise. He and his team certainly created a delicious meal, as the performances were almost perfect, and surprisingly magnificent.
Seven chorus members opened the play, uttering lines of poetry to narrate the story of Oedipus. The group was then confronted by another group of seven citizens, dressed in black robes to convey the complaining citizens asking the King to end the pestilence.
Then the chorus took to the higher stage to declare the coming of Oedipus - played by Dani Wahyudi - who took the time to talk to the citizens and made promises to help.
The audience was captivated by the perfect acting and dialogue, as well as the stage decorations, realistic makeup and costumes.
The stabbing of Oedipus' eyes was performed offstage, and described by a witness, to shield the audience from the horror.
Antigone, similar to Oedipus the King in that it takes place during the same era, is a bloodthirsty tragedy that ends with the demise of many characters.
The play was also performed using a naturalistic acting style. The actors and actresses were similarly talented. This play was directed by Prihartini Utami, assisted by Sri Lestari and Leny Kerti Ana.
One unavoidable weakness is that the chorus was performed by one person, instead of a group, because of the lack of students in the class.
Nevertheless, both performances brought the magic of the past to the small town.
Sunaryono Basuki Ks
The writer is a retired professor of english literature at Undiksha Singaraja.
