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Game on for Gamelan by Keith Bruce |
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Game on for Gamelan by Keith Bruce
The Herald, 1 April 2002 IS IT theatre, or is it music? In what has already been a very diverse programme, the Arches Festival of New Scottish Theatre embraces Indonesian gamelan and shadow puppetry at the end of this week. 
Wayang Skotlandia is the splendid title of a piece that brings back out into the open the lost gamelan of Strathclyde, an almost mythical instrument that dates back to the heyday of Culture City Glasgow. 'Twas then that Strathclyde Regional Council purchased a gamelan - a vast array of eastern percussion on a frame - for the people, little knowing that local government reorganisation would soon consign its munificence to history.
The gamelan was split between Glasgow and South Lanarkshire, making impossible the performance of anything with a high F sharp in the city or a bottom G to the east. Alright, we made up that last bit. But the Glasgow gamelan gathered dust in Tramway, alongside the concert hall murals, until the keepers of the gamelan found a new leader in Javanese musician Joko Susilo.
Now the group (Naga Mas) is back on the road, the dhalang (puppeteers) have revived their art and Waylang Skotlandia can be seen at the Arches on Friday and Saturday, 8pm start. |
