Media Release

27 May 2009

Australia and Indonesia Collaborate on Theatre Production “Tales of 1001 Nights”

Renowned Indonesian actor and director Slamet Rahardjo Djarot from Populer Theatre and prominent Australian theatre director and educator Robert Draffin from Liminal Theatre, Melbourne, will join this week with post graduate students from the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) to perform a collaborative theatre production of “Tales of 1001 Nights”.

“Tales of 1001 Nights” is a classic tale which recounts the story of Shahrazad, a young bride struggling to save herself from execution by the King through the use of creative story telling. As the King is anxious to hear the conclusion of her stories he continues to postpone her execution for 1001 nights, producing a collection of stories known as “Tales of 1001 Nights” or “Arabian Nights”.

The interpretation of this story has been written by both directors and uses classical Javanese vocal music (tembang) to build dramatic structure to the production.

“Tales of 1001 Nights is the perfect vehicle for an intercultural project. The stories and its themes are universal and their great variety and strong mythological base give a wonderful possibility of expression to the many cultural performance forms that exist in Indonesia,” said Draffin.

This collaboration follows Draffin’s translation of the “Tales of 1001 Nights” script into Indonesian last year. He also led a series of workshops to introduce new working methods to students, IKJ alumni and independent artists.

“Education and arts are key areas in which we can continue to create strong bonds between our two countries and develop a deeper understanding of each other’s culture and history,” said Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer.

“Building these links between our young generations will ensure the relationship will continue to go from strength to strength into the future,” Mr Farmer said.

This collaborative theatre production has been funded by the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII), established by the Australian Government in 1989, in cooperation with IKJ.

Performances are being held on 29 and 30 May 2009 at Luwes Theatre, Jakarta Arts Institute.

Media Enquiries:
Sanchi Davis, Cultural Attache tel. (021) 2550 5260 mob. 0811 936 302