A mix of Sri Lankan and Indonesian performing arts traditions, Ruukada Golek will be a novel theatrical experience for the Lankan audience when puppetry artistes and musicians from Sri Lanka and Indonesia appear on a common platform on November 28 at the Indonesian Embassy to present the show.
The stories inspired by the ever popular folk tale Mahadanamutta will come alive in the form of signature 3D wooden rod puppets (Wayang Golek) moving to the pulsating beats of traditional Lankan drums and traditional Indonesian Gamelan music. Gamelan music is a combination of 12 instruments which is the traditional brass orchestra of Indonesia.
Following a brief introductory performance at a news conference, the Arts Director of Ruukada Golek Sulochana Dissanayake said it was the first time that Indonesian Gamelan instruments such as boning and kendang were being publicly played in Sri Lanka, after their last performance in 1938. “We are combining local traditional instruments like daula, geta beraya and thammattama with Indonesian musical instruments to create a unique sound track,” she said.
Indonesian “Rod Puppets” are essentially the hand puppets manipulated by a rod and this type is “more expressive and lively” than the string puppets, she says. The rod puppets for this particular show have been custom cut by Giri Harga III – a puppet community of the maestro puppet artist Dhalang Aset Sunandar Sunarya, said Sulochana.
“It is a social satire on how far we have travelled from our traditions based on our traditional story of Mahadanamutta and Golayas. The story would be what Mahadanamutta would make of our lives if he came to Colombo and saw all the changes that have taken place,” she said. To give it a more innovative touch, Sulochana has introduced new characters to represent current communities in the country in addition to a couple of Indonesian characters. The script is written by Wimalanath Weeraratne.
Strengthening ties between countries in the world in terms of arts and culture is very important, she says.
Although it is important to take this form of art out of Colombo, there are constraints, Sulochana said. “Often we lack institutional support needed for programmes like these. We are grateful to the Indonesian Embassy for coming forward to assist us in this venture,” she says. Two performances will be held at 2.p.m. and 5 p.m.on November 28. The event is in collaboration with the Embassy of Indonesia in Colombo.
The event at the Riptaloka Hall Indonesian Embassy, 400/50 Sarana Road Colombo 07 is open to public free of charge.
More details can be obtained via sulochana_86@hotmail.com. |
E-mail
