Later this month, Rhythm in Bronze (RiB), a contemporary gamelan ensemble, will present “Seruan Setu: The Secret Gardens of the Sea”, with the noble intention of highlighting the importance of seagrass in the marine ecosystem. Among its many roles, seagrass provides a home and feeding ground for marine life such as green turtles and dugongs.
As artistic director of the show, Zahim Albakri, 60, had a tall order – that of bringing science and music together. But the multiple BOH Cameronian Arts Awards winner faced the challenge head on.
“I believe that the way to keep your work fresh is to actually keep doing and learning new things as you’re going along,” he told FMT Lifestyle, adding that he was “fascinated with the documentary aspect” of the show.
Zahim is an acclaimed director whose previous works include “Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical”, “P Ramlee The Musical”, and “Cuci The Musical”.
His film adaptation of Jit Murad’s stage play, “Spilt Gravy on Rice” won “Best Film” at the 32nd Malaysian Film Festival Awards last year.
The audience can look forward to 10 original pieces written by eight composers – and these are not just about seagrass or marine life. Other themes such as the communities that depend on them are also covered.
Some of the composers and creative team even took a trip to Johor where they walked in seagrass meadows and spoke with the people who live off them.
Zahim said that apart from the music, there will be singing, dancing and animation – certainly a feast for the senses!
“We thought that to inform people about seagrass, you need to show it in some way. That’s why there is very strong video and visual elements to the show,” he said.
“But the music is the strength of it. So, the inspiration behind how it’s presented is from the music,” he added.
As the content mapper of the show, Mark Teh, 42, had an integral part to play. “I help the different teams figure out how to bring together all the artistic and content elements they have,” said Teh, adding that these included the artistic, lighting, and set design teams.
Teh is a theatre director himself whose own previous project was a documentary performance titled “A Notional History”.
Yet, working on this show has also been an eye-opening experience for him. “I would very happily say that I didn’t know what seagrass was until about five to six months ago. Like most people, I thought that they were like seaweed, but they’re clearly not,” he said.
Meanwhile, producer Sharmini Ratnasingam, 58, said that the idea of the show was initially mooted by Jillian Ooi, the artistic and music director of RiB and an expert on seagrass.
Ooi wanted to cast a spotlight on Malaysia’s endangered seagrass ecosystems. In fact, the word “seruan” means “call” in Malay, while “setu” refers to tape seagrass which are declining in Malaysia.
Sharmini added that this would mark RiB’s first show since “Arus Gangsa” in 2014. She said that this new show was different as they approached not only those who knew the gamelan well but also those with little or no experience of it.
“This time, we have a few who have never or have very little experience in writing for the gamelan. Compared to those who have experience, it’s a different sound and we wanted to explore that sound,” she said, adding that three of their composers are in this category.
On what she hopes the show will achieve, she said: “It’s a social commentary that we would like to share. Our job is to raise awareness and for the audience to realise ‘I didn’t know that’,” she said.
‘Seruan Setu: The Secret Gardens of the Sea’
Venue:
Pentas 2, KLPAC
Sentul Park
Jalan Strachan off Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah
51100 Kuala Lumpur
Date: Aug 24-27
Showtimes
8.30pm: Thursday–Sunday
3pm: Saturday & Sunday (extra shows)
Ticket prices:
- RM150 (regular)
- RM80 (concession: students, senior citizens, disabled)
- Group promotion (minimum 5 pax): 10% discount off normal-priced and concession tickets. Promocode: SEAGRASS
For bookings, click here.
Learn more about Rhythm in Bronze on its website, Facebook and Instagram.