Bekasi – On the 6th to 7th August 2019, class PAC 20-1B held the theatre “Arkadewi”, a Java folklore adaptation of Widodaren about love and jealousy that leads into a turmoil. The production brought such beautiful performance through dances, singings, accompanied with live Gamelan music. 

Adipati Maheswara (Adhi Permana) and Mother (Adra Fajrin) on the first Act of “Arkadewi”

The theatre tells a story of Arkadewi, a goddess out of seven Godesses that fell in love with a human, Maheswara (Adhi Permana) which triggers jealousy of his onliest mother (Adra Fajrin). Envy and jealousy, is generally known to do more harm than good to one’s well-reasoning. Arkadewi, being a Goddess with her mighty power wasn’t happy when getting hurt and betrayed by her just-became husband. 

The act was opened with dances of the Goddess, with the song called “Dadapan” and “Seven Goddesses”. Set when all the Goddesses were bathing in the river, Arkadewi lost her scarf to get home to the Goddesses’ kingdom. From then on, her journey began. 

Arkadewi (Adra Fajrin), Adipati Maheswara (Adhi Permana), and Abimata (Nanda) and guards in palace

All songs and choreographs were beautifully made by the students, and were all original. Lectured by Mr. Andrew Trigg, a production filled with culture and tradition was nicely combinated with a modernised style. Such production is necessary as a reminder to our own’s culture as well to appraise the beauty of it through theatre performance. Set in Java, all properties were successfully made to support its classic yet modern ambiance. 

Mother revealing the scarf of Arkadewi in palace

The dances came all from traditional piece combined with a hint of Jazz. As well to the music, aside from its original made, managed to be composed in a fun way without losing its traditional essence and philosophy. This production is one of an international examination, ECU (Edith Cowen University), requirement for students from Performing Arts and Communication (PAC) majors. (Nadira)