Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya Review

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Author: teropong | September 12, 2007 - 6:05 pm

Was it a dance? Was it a play? Whatever it was, Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya spoke volumes.

If you had an issue with Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya, the latest work by Marion D’Cruz, it was probably due to the fact that you were unable to classify it within a particular genre.

Sure, the performers, many of whom were exploring dance for the first time, displayed some quite impressive movements but was it dance?

Indeed, theatre novices who ventured into The Actors Studio Bangsar to check out Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya may have been slightly taken aback. Their confusion, however, was not totally surprising. Those unfamiliar with the work of D’Cruz can leave after a performance feeling that they got something that they didn’t sign up for.

Nonetheless, those well-versed with her approach who watched Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya would have been happy that the theatre veteran has not wavered from her stance, despite not having created a full-length work for close to a decade now.

D’Cruz, a founder member of The Five Arts Centre, has always been renowned for pushing the boundaries of creativity and stimulating discussion.

Till today, artistes and laymen debate over the merits of one of her early works; The Urn Piece. D’Cruz, through Five Arts, has managed to challenge typical ideas of what constitutes dance. Attempting to define her work would thus, be foolhardy. Instead your focus should be on what you can take from it.

Again, the value of such work always stirs a fair bit of controversy and the notion of expecting the unexpected at times becomes the expected. For example, the programme was simply a blank booklet.

Those who are familiar with D’Cruz’s ideas as well as the work of some of the “dancers” utilised in this production – James Lee, Edwin Sumun and Anne James –would have known that a typical dance performance would not be presented.

Like most productions staged by Five Arts which focus on issues, Bunga Manggar was no exception.

D’Cruz gathered a group of 22 individuals from various backgrounds. Some like Lee, Sumun, Janet Pillai, Elaine Pedley, Mark Teh, Fahmi Fadzil and Leow Puay Tin were familiar names. Others like Jacqueline Ann Surin and Hari Azizan brought their observations as journalists, while the rest had not previously been involved in theatre.

There were also viewpoints from our southern neighbour, through the input of Singaporean actress Neo Swee Lin (who played Phua Chu Kang’s mother in the hit series).

Through them, ideas of what makes us Malaysians were addressed. And with such a diverse group, you are bound to get a unique perspective on what makes us Malaysians and the kind of issues that we grapple with.

Bunga Manggar offered insight into all the things that are wrong with our country – everything from the lack of conservation to traffic jams, highway tolls to snatch theft.

The audience was able to immediately identify the issues addressed and what made the show enjoyable was the way that the ideas were expressed, which was very innovative.

Manoeuvring your body to tell a story isn’t easy, particularly when this is the first time you’re dabbling with movement.

Initially, it may have started on a more ambiguous note but as the night progressed, everything became so apparent.

The “protest” over the ever-increasing tolls was especially clever while the “Will You Please Be Quiet” segement, which addressed apathy over snatch theft, was spot on.

The highlight of the evening, however, had to be the piece that dealt with issues of racial segregation and the growing tendency to “stick with your own”.

Racial relations is always such a taboo subject, that the mere mention of it would create controversy and while politicians are verbosely discussing it, they are not really addressing the problem. But with a few words and a lot of humour, the issue was addressed so accurately by Bunga Manggar.

And that is perhaps what you should take from it.

source : Mass Media

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