It was a delightfully unforgetable day, or maybe to be precise, an unforgetable night as on last Thursday night, I experienced the first living theatre. Hmm..after all theatre is absolutely alive and immediate as both are the characteristics of theatre!The theatre that I went for was Puteri Gunung Ledang, The Musical and it was staged in The Palace of Culture, Kuala Lumpur. I was very happy that I went to watch the theatre as it was brilliantly and superbly performed that the best simple word to comment on it is FANTASTIC! Going to the staged theatre for the first time was really one of the best experiences I had in my life and it certainly gave a whole lot knowledge and experience to me.
Puteri Gunung Ledang, The Musical or PGLM was a play which was performed in both Malay and Javanese language and as it was a musical theatre, the actors and actresses were all singing beautifully composed songs and dancing gracefully. The brilliantly sung songs had portrayed not only the mood of the play, but it also depicted the play itself. Besides the main actors and actresses, there was also the chorus on the stage. They were singing and dancing to narrate the love story between Hang Tuah and Majapahit Princess. Reflecting to what I had learnt, the chorus also plays role as the society of that time.
I also felt amazed at the setting of the stage. With the same moveable prop, they used it as the Gunung Ledang itself, waterfalls and Majapahit palace. The stage was also a moveable one. When the stage was raised, it suggested a higher place or inside a palace. In the 2 hours and a half, we have 15 minutes break and during that time, the stage had been transformed to a new setting for the second part of the play which was in Malacca. If during the play. the stage was set in Majapahit, the culture depicted was the Javanese society, with all the Javanese language being used, costumes, songs and dances, but in the second part of the play, the setting was set in Malacca, all together with new environment. Both of these settings were clearly and obviously portrayed that it seemed as if I had been transported to the place and time. From what I had noticed, white clothes were also used to indicate that the time was passing and the spotlight was always focused to the main characters.
It was amazing how their performance can give so much pleasure to the audience! When the theatre ended, everyone clapped so loud, not only because we were all enjoying and satisfied with the performance, but also it was to give the message to the performers that they did it superbly! Hope to watch pglm again and today,my friends and I have booked places to watch again and perhaps later, I can post more blogs on pglm!