The Seagull (Camar)

Banjarmili Studio, Yogyakarta. 29-30th April 2008.

Erasmus Huis, Jakarta. 6-7th May 2008 

We started to work on scenes of Checkov’s Seagull (adapted by Gunawan Maryanto) in the theatre workshop I gave in the Banjarmili studio in the end of January. The Seagull talks about the longing for change, desire, love and the gap between traditional and new arts. About loving the one who do not love you, longing for what you cannot get and dreams that becomes nightmares.

The bird seagull is a symbol for Nina, an innocent and naïve girl, who dreams of becoming a famous actress. In the last scene of the play she is emotional and confused. She asks herself what art is about. Self-confidence, faith and endurance, is the answer she gives herself in the same scene. That gives her the power to go on. The seagull gets shot in during the play. Nina have to face the reality. But she does not loose her dreams.

Working on the play we talked the juxtaposition between dreams and reality. What is dream and what is the reality? There is not one reality. The reality can be seen from different perspectives. Every character in the play has his own reality. We plunge into the world of their thoughts; their desires, dreams, fears and nightmares. We visualized the dreams into images and the images into the scenes.

It is a very challenging opportunity to work on this project with these actors and within the team of Teater Garasi and to learn from everything we worked on during the process.

The performance ‘Seagull’ is part of the Residency program of Teater Garasi. The project is a collaboration project with the Theatre Embassy from the Netherlands. The Theatre Embassy has been developing theatre-projects around the world with theatre-makers from different cultures and backgrounds. By creating a platform for artists to exchange talents and skills, they build bridges between art and international development cooperation. This other partners in this project are the Dutch development organizations Togetthere, Icco and PSO.

Corrina Manara/ Director
www.corrinamanara.nl
www.theatre-embassy.org
www.icco.nl

Teamwork:

Director: Corrina Manara
Translator & Assistant Director: Naomi Srikandi
Actors:
Alex Suhendra
Hindra Setya Rini
Jami Atut T
MN. Qomaruddin
Wisnu Yudha Wardhana
Wiwara Awisarita

Lighting Designer: Ign. "Clink" Sugiarto
Music Designer: Risky Summerbee & the Honeythief
Set Designer: Novi Kristinawati
Crew: Adi Wisanggeni and Sugeng Utomo
Production Manager: Reni Karnila Sari