Sayang Sarawak fuses modern and traditional elements

KUCHING: The Sarawak Anak Seni Association mesmerised the audience with an enthralling musical theatre production, “Sayang Sarawak,” staged at the Institut Pendidikan Guru, Batu Lintang here on Saturday night.

Directed by the renowned Jalot Jeman, a prominent figure in Sarawak’s film and theatre scene, the production innovatively fused traditional elements of ‘Bangsawan,’ a form of Malay opera, into the theatrical narrative.

He said the fusion of modern and traditional elements was aimed at elevating Sarawak’s theatre scene.

“We wanted to make it different by incorporating elements of Bangsawan Sarawak, which is a new idea that attempts to take theatre production in Sarawak to higher grounds,” he told reporters after the show.

He further said the inspiration behind this production was to propel the Bangsawan Sarawak movement forward.

“However, we were not able to pull off a big production of a Bangsawan so we combined elements of it into a musical theatre production. Apart from that, we want to elevate the standards here to be as good as our peninsula counterparts,” he added.

Commenting further, he revealed this rendition marked the third iteration of the production, which saw collaboration with local theatre groups and dance ensembles based here.

“It is challenging as we only rehearsed for about 10 times in only a span of two weeks. But thankfully, we have made this a success,” he said.

This musical theatre stared local talent including Saiful Bahrin, Pretty Nina, Awang Rizal, Hazis Wahab and Ali Mohamad as the main characters, with Anwar Jeffry, Siti Sabariah, Nadhar Idruze, Aluna and Rashid Supardi as supporting characters.

“Sayang Sarawak” revolves around the 1960s, focusing on the love between Buang and Ros, the daughter of the village chief, Tok Dalang.

Their love is kept secret due to societal differences, as Buang is only a worker for Tok Dalang. Despite being well-liked by Tok Dalang, Buang’s humble nature captures Ros’s heart.

Meanwhile, Putit, a wealthy and greedy individual, deceives the villagers by selling their land to outsiders, the Talibarut. This leads to resentment and anger among the villagers.

Putit, driven by greed, targets Tok Penghulu’s valuable land to become immensely rich. He plans to achieve this by marrying Ros, thereby gaining control over Tok Penghulu’s wealth.

However, Ros, still in love with Buang, reluctantly agrees to marry Putit to avoid disappointing her father. The marriage is not based on love but on material gain. Devastated, Buang decides to leave the village and embark on a journey elsewhere.

One day, Buang overhears Putit’s intention to seize and sell Tok Penghulu’s land to outsiders. In the end, Putit is arrested by the villagers for attempting to deceive and harm Tok Penghulu and Buang.

Also present were IPG Batu Lintang director Dr Abang Ismail Abang Julhi; Sarawak Anak Seni Association president Mohamad Ghazali Jeman; Sarawak Arts Council director representative Sabri Fauzan Bin Fadillah and National Culture and Arts Department representative Juhan Junaidi.