Acclaimed master of Balinese masked dance, I NYOMAN SUKERTA combined with local artists to reinterpret Shakespeare's famous text.
This new collaboration between NZ and Indonesian artists was a hugely entertaining, sometimes startling, reinterpretation of Shakespeare's view of human life. Mixing multi-lingual declamation, exotic vocal styles, physical theatre and gamelan percussion this production transcended the many boundaries of time and place, language and culture. Shakespeare was never more universal than this! All the world's a stage….
See the photo gallery. All photos by Robert Catto/www.catto.co.nz
DVD available on request.
Read article in Jakarta Post on Jack Body, including this show.
Read more:Graduates of the Wellington Performing Arts Centre:
Music by:
Producer:
Director:
Lighting:
Guest artist
I Nyoman Sukerta belongs to that rare breed of Balinese artists who have the power of taksu, the attribute of physical and spiritual possession - when he dons a mask his body, his head and hand movements, his whole physical being is possessed by the character of that mask. As well as an outstanding dancer, he is a dalang (puppeteer), which in Indonesian culture places him at the pinnacle of artistic achievement, requiring the combined skills of consummate musician, actor, singer, dancer, shaman, comedian, master story-teller, and highly respected repository of cultural knowledge and wisdom. He has previously performed in Wellington in 2005 as part of "Vita Brevis" (an inter-cultural meditation on life's brevity for voices, gamelan and dance).
"Dancer Nyoman Sukerta's revelatory performance of the Balinese Dance of an Old Man … took us convincingly into another realm, self-explanatory and universal in its meaning."
Lindis Taylor, Dominion Post, November 18, 2005.
Lilicherie McGregor is a New Zealand director who has a PhD in intercultural theatre. She lectured in Theatre and Performing Arts at the University of Otago for 4 years before working as assistant director for Eugenio Barba at Odin Teatret for 3 years, during which time she collaborated with the Gambuh Pura Desa Ensemble from Bali on Ur-Hamlet which premiered at Elsinore in 2004. In 2006 she was director in residence at Massey University. She is the artistic director of Kore Theatre Company, creating original work as well as touring Shakespeare to schools nationwide.
Jack Body, Associate Professor of Music at the New Zealand School of Music, is the producer of this event. A composer with a fascination with the music and cultures of Asia, particularly Indonesia, Jack has a long history of producing a wide range of events and festivals. He is a specialist in cross-cultural composition, in his own music as well as in his teaching, and as the manager of Victoria University's Gamelan Padhang Moncar, he has stimulated the creation of new compositions, many of which have been recorded and broadcast. His current creative projects include a commission for the NZSO and a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet and Chinese pipa player Wu Man. Read more
Gareth Farr is one of New Zealand's most well-known composers. In 1993, at the age of 25, Gareth became Chamber Music New Zealand's youngest composer in residence and since then, his works have been commissioned and performed by the NZSO, the Auckland Philharmonia, the New Zealand String Quartet, Strike, and a variety of other professional musicians in NZ and overseas. His theatrical music works include a number of children's productions for Capital E and three musicals for Circa. Gareth has had a long association with Indonesian gamelan, having studied traditional forms as well as composing many works for both Javanese and Balinese ensembles. Read more
I Wayan Gde Yudane is a leading talent among the new generation of Balinese composers. Resident in New Zealand since 2002, he has produced works for concert performance, theatre, sound installations and for film. In collaboration with Paul Gabrowsky he composed the award-winning score for the 2000 Adelaide Festival production of The Theft of Sita. He has been the recipient of the annual award for the Best Composition (Kreasi Baru) for Balinese Gamelan on nine separate occasions. Recent works include a commissioned composition for the NZ Trio. Wayan Yudane directs the Balinese gamelan at the NZSM. Read more
Budi Putra is the director of the Javanese gamelan ensemble at NZSM. He is a graduate of a tertiary arts institute in Solo, Indonesia, specialising in voice. He has composed numerous traditionally based works for Gamelan Padhang Moncar. As a performer of new compositions he has collaborated with Jack Body in Campur Sari for Javanese musician and string quartet, and Palaran for Javanese singer and the Amsterdam Altas Ensemble. Read more
Megan Collins lectures in Ethnomusicology at the New Zealand School of Music. She specialises in the performance of Southeast Asian music including that of the Minangkabau people, from West Sumatra, Indonesia. In collaboration with Kirstin Pauka (Hawai'i), she created the new randai theatre show The Story of Upiak and Sutan. The Minangkabau cross-bowed fiddle (rabab pasisia) was the topic of her PhD.
Gamelan Performers:
Randai Performers:
What is randai?
Randai is a folk theatre tradition from West Sumatra, Indonesia. Developed around the turn of the 20th century, Randai incorporates three ancient performance traditions of the Minagkabau people - martial art (silek), song (dendang) and story telling (kaba).
A randai show is typically performed outside, in a round, with a temporary awning put up to protect the players and audience from the weather. A village performance usually celebrates a wedding or a community event. Read more
The randai group for this show was trained by local ethnomusicologist, Megan Collins, and a guest choreographer from the University of Hawai'i, Kirstin Pauka, drawing on traditional material that both have learned in West Sumatra.
'The Seven Ages of Man'
from All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare (Act II, Scene vii)
And all the men and women merely players;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide