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Crossing borders through a collaborative play
Scenes from the Garibaba’s Strange World
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Scenes from the Garibaba’s Strange World. JP/Ricky Yudhistira
Jonathan Swift and Indonesian culture are the two main inspirations for the writer-cum-director of Garibaba's Strange World, Hiroshi Koike.
For Koike, the Irish writer was a contradictory character in his era.
"He's so strange and so funny. That's the reason I decided to make Swift projects that take place in three different countries - Japan, Indonesia and Ireland - in three years, starting from last year," Koike said recently.
His first Swift project was first staged in Japan in 2008, portraying the life of Swift himself.
This year, Koike decided to mix it up with Swift's most famous tale, Gulliver's Travel, and his own ideas.
The idea of "Mozo-mozo" creatures was also taken from the story.
"Swift had a thought like this, *I like people or human beings, but at the same time I dislike them because they have strong desires. Much fighting, much struggling,'" said Koike, who has produced 50 projects during his professional career in the Pappa Tarahumara troupe.
"I understand Jonathan Swift's idea very much."
The moves and beauty of Indonesian dance also attracted Koike to perform the play with Indonesian artists.
He said Indonesian dancers could easily adapt to foreign dancing without losing their unique original identity.
In Garibaba's Strange World, Koike explores Indonesian culture through music, language and dance.
Some theater lovers might guess which scenes really reflect Japanese culture, but for the artists, that was not a big deal.
The play's narrator, Slamet Gundono, said the presence of Japanese culture in the play was not always featured through its dance or music.
"As one of the artists who participated in the project, I really feel the rhythm of the Japanese way of life," he said.
"In Javanese, for instance, we might sing traditional Javanese songs whenever we like, but when we work with Koike, we can't do that. Everything has its own timing. So it's more about time discipline."
It took 45 days for Hiroshi Koike to prepare the collaborative project with Indonesian and Japanese artists.
He had to deal with the language barrier and cultural difference to get the artists to put together a wonderful play.
"Language is the main problem because I don't understand Indonesian. In Surakarta *in Central Java*, they spoke in Javanese and I couldn't understand at all. But I can cope with the problem," he said, adding he communicated with the local artists through translators.
The lead actor in Garibaba, Takuya Ikeno, shared a similar thought.
"It's very difficult for me to share my mind with the Indonesian artists, but I can deal with it because I enjoy my time working with them," he said.
Jompet Kuswidananto, the visual and artistic designer for the play, said it was a great experience working with the Japanese artists.
"Forty-five days was way too short to collaborate between two nations like this," he said.
"But fortunately Koike had a fit and great directing method, so everything went smoothly. We learn a lot from him."
Koike plans to stage the third Swift project in Ireland next year.
- Triwik Kurniasari
