INDONESIA THEATER REVIEWS

What did our critic think of #MUSIKALDIRUMAHAJA RETURNS WITH GATOT AND BATU GANTUNG at INDONESIA KAYA?...

After a two-year delay, the musical monologue TEGAK SETELAH OMBAK ('Standing Tall After the Wave') by Titimangsa Foundation offers a look into the life of Inggit Garnasih, the second wife of Indonesia's founding father Soekarno....

Diva, the latest offering from LSPR Teatro, premiered on December 10, 2021 at Cinépolis Plaza Semanggi. It was a momentous production for the theater club, being both their first original musical and their first cinematic show. Though not without obvious shortcomings, the tragic showbiz cautionary ...

As Halloween season is wrapping up and some spookiness lingers still, Indonesia Kaya introduces a brand new horror musical titled IBU for those still looking to be delighted and frightened. The 45-minute musical film stars Andrea Miranda, Morgan Oey, Nino Prabowo, Sita Nursanti, and Chandra Satria....

Jason Robert Brown’s award-winning musical tragedy THE LAST FIVE YEARS got a new interpretation for the quarantine era by JPAC and SHOEMAKER STUDIO. With picture-perfect performances and a directorial approach that preserves and elevates the soul of theater through a filming lens, the production i...

As the year comes to a close, ARTSWARA FOUNDATION and BAKTI BUDAYA DJARUM FOUNDATION offered a new musical short film to watch during the holidays. LENTERA DI TEPIAN is a very classic romance story with a Indo-Malay background. Though the end result is adequately entertaining, the overly familiar tr...

Musical community Jaksicala??s annual birthday concert is back - this time in virtual space, due to the ongoing pandemic. JOURNEY THROUGH TIME 4 REWIND showcases showtunes from Jaksicala??s previous three concerts, sung by both returning and new performers....

The sixth and final offering from #MusikalDiRumahAja closes the 6-episode web series on a high note. The Sundanese folktale of Lutung Kasarung was a joy to watch from start to finish, owing to the immaculate cinematography and fun theatricality....

The penultimate episode of #MusikalDiRumahAja, Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, has been broadcast. With a quirky and distinctive art director, the episode is visually interesting and has an intriguing narrative take, although it might not appeal to everyone....

Sangkuriang, the fourth episode of web musical series #MusikalDiRumahAja had arrived. The Tanta Ginting-led episode had exemplary cinematography and vocal prowess, yet the storytelling did not flow as beautifully and effortlessly as the leadsa?? vocals....

#MusikalDiRumahAjaa??s third and latest entry, Rara J, is the first to transplant the source folktale into a current-day setting. However, the adaptation is not merely skin-deep, as the episodea??s presentation is as snazzy as its internet-savvy characters, resulting in a fun and accessible watch....

The second episode of #MusikalDiRumahAja web musical series, Timun Mas, brought the childrena??s tale into a new, surreal realm. It puts its meticulously stylistic presentation up and front, at the cost of muddling its substance behind a veneer of colors and light....

The first of #MusikalDiRumahAja series is here. Malin Kundang, the West Sumatran folktale, is available to watch until Thursday (7/30) evening on Indonesia Kaya's YouTube channel and stars Nino Prabowo, Dea Panendra, Desmonda Cathabel, and Naura....

As part of Bandung Philharmonic Orchestra's Children Concert Series, the cross-opera MUSIC OF PAPER is available to watch on YouTube for two days this weekend (July 25-26)....

A new and original musical tackling on the subject of sexual abuse, Musikal Belakang Panggung, had completed its 4-show run on March 8th at the Institut Français d'Indonésie. The show was created in collaboration with Lentera Sintas Indonesia, an NGO with the mission to empower sexual abuse surviv...

As part of London School of Public Relations' 24th Theatre Festival and 13th Performing Arts Co mmunication Festival, class 23-3SP presented a play titled NYCTOPHOBIA on February 4th at the Amani Palladium Theater. NYCTOPHOBIA - the word meaning the irrational fear of darkness or the night - is a...

With excellent performances from a cross-generational cast, PANEMBAHAN RESO is a delightful watch. WS Rendra's biting political commentary is as relevant as ever, though the text does show its age....

GARIN WORKSHOP's celebration of Melanesian art astonishes. The collaborative artistry expresses a deep love of Mother Nature through soul-wrenching laments and dances....

Stephen Sondheim's cerebral, minimalist COMPANY might not be an obvious choice for a community theater here in Indonesia where musicals are still often seen as jazz-hands and kicklines, but director Fonnyta Amran and JPAC (Jakarta Performing Arts Community) made it work. The production of COMPANY wa...

After the artful, intimate INTO THE WOODS last year, TEMAN (Teater Musikal Nusantara) is back with the bombastic and bodacious HAIRSPRAY. Directed by Broadway's Brandon Bieber, the glam production was worthy of Broadway barring noticeable technical issues....

As the inaugural show at the newly opened Amani Palladium Theater, LSPR Teatro's THE KING AND I was satisfyingly entertaining, though with some obvious room for improvement. The production ran for four days from 21 through 24 November 2019 and was directed by Bartolomeus K. Putra....

For their third annual concert, JAKSICAL went for a more intimate show with a handful of singers alongside a team of musicians, wrapped in a charming theme of globetrotting. The resulting exploration of beloved show tunes in JOURNEY THROUGH TIME 3: A MUSICAL EXPEDITION (JTT3) was a worthy addition t...

Despite its title, TEATER KELILING's THE GREAT RAHWANA focuses more on razzle-dazzle moments than consistently developing the titular character's duality. Yet the resulting extravaganza offers its own greatness. ...

Stephen Sondheim's musical INTO THE WOODS JR. came to USMAR ISMAIL HALL, Jakarta, on August 25th, 2019. This production by RELASI NADA DUNIA (RND) featured child and teen musical actors from the greater Jakarta area in a fun fairy tale mishmash that rivals productions with adult performers....

Society expects people to conform to its norms to be accepted. Those who can't will be cast aside and forgotten, with their dreams left broken. But is it worth it losing one's true self to pursue one's ambition? SPOTLIGHT THEATRE explores the issue of identity and dreams in their original musical KI...