By Fairuz Tauhid

Anggun Bainai Jo Sultan Nogori is a story about a girl by the name of Anggun, who was forced to marry a Sultan Lembang Alam, her cousin, whom her father likes. She refuses to marry him because he is not matured enough for her and she already in love with Sultan Nogori, Sultan Lembang Alam's friend. After Anggun and Sultan Nogori got married, Sultan Lembang Alam approached the couple and wanted to fight with Sultan Nogori. Sultan Lembang Alam lost and apologized to Sultan Nogori. Anggun's father, who had abandoned his daughter because she didn’t agree with his choice, forgave his daughter and they lived happily together again.

Congratulations to both performance groups from the bachelor degree students of ASWARA. They had done a very good job. Although team A and team B presented the same script and structure, both of them showed their own styles when performing it.

For the ‘Anak Randai’, they looked so sharp and united from the introduction to the end. But unfortunately, they were not enjoying themselves and this can be seen by the audience. They looked like they were under a lot of pressure because they had to perform in front of a minister. Some of them did try to get into the character of the Randai but it was not working because they did not overcome their nervousness. They had improved a lot since their rehearsal two days ago. From the aspects of performance, their lines, their circles, the Silat all were connected. The additional movements which they were able to pull off in less than 24 hours were worth watching. Those from team A were so glad that they had inspired team B with their own style. They were sure that team B was not just copying but that they also manage to add in some original movements that suited their team’s performance.

Starting from the ‘Janang’ scene, the dynamics of the performance was quite boring. The boredom was not caused by the execution of the scene, but rather, from the lack of response from the audience. They seem to be controlling themselves because of the VIP who was seated at the front row.

I found that team B did not dress its players according to the social status lectured earlier.  Although this is not a big issue, it did affect their overall performance.

The performance of team A, on 31 May 2009, started very nicely and in control. After the introduction, they formed a circle and started to perform. The nervousness of the fellow “Anak Randai’s” can be seen through their eyes. They just played the Randai without much thought and depth. However, team A’s energy was going strong from the beginning till the end because they performed spontaneously.  Everyone in team A was pushing themselves very hard. It was nice to see the cooperation as the team comprised of individuals from performing arts backgrounds of various fields. 

Despite all the setbacks, both teams did a wonderful job.