BWW Reviews: Oz Asia Festival 2013: ONTOSOROH Tells a Classic Tale in Dance, Song and Music

Reviewed Monday 16th September 2013

Ade Suharto performed a piece two years ago in this Festival, In Lieu, to critical and audience acclaim. There was a buzz in the foyer before this performance, indicating that many had seen that previous work and were filled with excited anticipation to see this new one. This time she is joined by singer Peni Candra Rini co-creating a very special performance. What was presented went far beyond that last performance, demonstrating considerable growth in ideas and artistic maturity in that short time. The audience was totally enthralled by this interpretation of the story of Nyai Ontosoroh; her life journey from childhood, gaining strength through adversity, to eventually achieve independence and control of her own destiny.

Ontosoroh is a collaborative work based on this heroin from Pramoedya Ananta Toer's classic, This Earth of Mankind. With choreography and dancing, by Suharto, go songs written and sung by Peni Candra Rini, sung in the Javanese language. To this is added music by three remarkable Indonesian performers, percussionist Plenthe, gendèr player (a tuned percussion with metal bars, below each of which is a resonator, like a xylophone or marimba), Iswanto, and Prisha Sebastian, on violin. All three play various other percussion instruments as well.

From the very beginning, there is a break with tradition, the three musicians playing instruments that are part of a Gamelan, but not with the mallets usually used. They play them with hands and fingers, extracting a wide range of timbres from them. The first sound is from a gong ageng, a very large, deep sided gong, the sound booming into the theatre. The other two musicians join in, each playing a set of four smaller gongs, boneng. They then move to the side on the stage, positioning themselves each in a cluster of assorted instruments, not just those of gamelan, but also such things as a violin.

The other two thirds of the stage becomes the province of Suharto and Rini, sometimes alone, sometimes together. Suharto is trained in western contemporary dance, as well as in Javanese dance, and creates a blend, that varies across that spectrum, to suit each section. Rini is a western classically trained singer, as well as trained in Javanese singing, again giving a variable blend of the two. She also composed all of the songs, telling the story of Ontosoroh. Adding in the range of instrumental sounds from the three musicians, this results in a truly remarkable performance that is unique to this combination of five particular performers.

Rini's outstandingly expressive voice is captivating, but she also combines it with choreographed movement, dramatic interpretation, and makes good use of the costumes. Suharto's dancing also has strong dramatic content, even including a primal scream, with more effective use of costuming. This is on top of her dancing, which was spellbinding in its elegance and fluidity. Rini and Suharto complemented each other beautifully in their intricate interpretations of the life story of this fascinating woman.

Adding to the visual side of the work is the design, by Justine Shih Pearson, and the visual art of Mawarini, lit by the design by Sue Grey-Gardner. This, too, is integrated into the production with the whole thing leaving the audience breathless with wonder and completely captivated from start to finish.

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