Asia Dance Channel

Dewa Kaca – Mek Mulung

23 May 2009
Experimental Theatre, National Arts Culture and Heritage Academy (ASWARA)

By Alexander Chin

Mek Mulung is a traditional theatre that originated from Wang Tepus, Jitra Kedah. As part of ASWARA’s efforts in preserving this traditional theatre, its first year students in their newly introduced degree programme have to learn and perform this art form as part of their compulsory course evaluation.

The story of Dewa Kaca is a local folklore revolving people from the royal palace. Raja Dewa Kaca, also known as Che Wan (Muhammad Syazwan bin M. Hashim) misses his wife, Puteri Mek Senik (Murni Omar) who lives in another palace called Anjung Istana. He ordered Awang Tua (Syahrizan Sahamat) to go to Anjung Istana and check the condition of his wife. However, when Awang Tua together with Awang Muda (Mohd Hazwan bin Khadari) reached Anjung Istana and met the Ketua Inang (Ahmad Firdaus), which means the head of duennaand nine other Inang from the palace, they had an argument which resulted in a misunderstanding that Puteri Mek Senik was having a lot of man accompanying her. The Ketua Inang and nine other Inang too misunderstood that Raja Dewa Kaca have a lot of woman accompanying him. Both parties brought back news about these misunderstandings, which caused turbulence to the marriage of Raja Dewa Kaca and Puteri Mek Senik.

There was very little dancing in this show but these few moments was amazing. Even though the dance steps were simple, it was choreographed in such a way that it was captivating. The singing was even better especially the chorus that was accompanied by live music.

Muhammad Syazwan was brilliant as Raja Dewa Kaca. I thought his acting was near-perfect. From the moment he set foot on stage, the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Is he royalty?’

I never expected so much humour and fun in traditional theatre. The audience was laughing from the start till the very end of the show. In fact, we laughed so much that the performance crew had to shush us. The characters Awang Tua, Awang Muda, Ketua Inang and the nine cross-dresser Inangs totally rocked the stage. I was rather sceptical about traditional theatre at first but that night, I was won over by the stellar performance.