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Sight: Shakespeare in Badung -“A British theatrical group performs in a Balinese village”
It was not a cold, foggy British night
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It was not a cold, foggy British night. Instead, it was a humid, tropical night. Not the kind of weather Shakespeare experienced when he wrote those powerful plays that continue to entertain the world centuries after he passed away.
Yet, on that humid tropical night, one of his plays was about to be performed at a community hall in Abiansemal Dauh Yeh Cani village in Badung. It is a village steeped in traditional Balinese performing arts. It boasts topeng (masked theater), wayang (shadow puppet), arja (classical dance drama), calonarang (supernatural horror theater) troupes, as well as scores of different gamelan ensembles.
The villagers started to fill the hall. All were in simple Balinese attire.
“I heard that foreigners will perform. I have no idea what they will do,” a pecalang (traditional guardsmen) said.
Watching western artists perform was not a new thing for the villagers, he assured, because in the past there had been several such performances in the community hall and village temple.
The melodious sounds of metallophones played by local child musicians marked the opening of the cultural night. Village chief I Wayan Sutama gave a brief speech, thanking Leon Rubin, the play’s director for bringing the performance to the village, and apologizing that the hall was not packed with a full audience. Apparently, the village was to have a major cremation ritual the following day and most of the villagers were busy preparing for it.
The actors, a mixed group of western and local artists, entered the stage and the play began. It was an adaptation of Cymbeline, Shakespeare’s tragicomic take on power and jealousy inspired by ancient British legends.
The presence of a narrator and the fact that all dialogue was in Bahasa made it easier for the audience to understand the two-hour long performance.
Presented by East 15 Acting School in Essex, the performance involved several big names in Balinese performing arts, including Nyoman Catra, Nyoman Sedana and Wayan Dibia, as well as young Balinese theatrical actors, including Indra Parusha and Tebo Aumbara. It was produced by Allegra Ceccarelli, while the songs and music were composed by Richard Brown. Psyche Chui designed the lighting and Wenhai Ma crafted the costumes.
The play was also performed at Bali Arts Festival and Agung Rai Museum of Arts (ARMA).
