Walking into the black box theatre at Aswara to watch Imagina, I was surprised by how different the stage looked from what I expected for a children's theatre production. Instead of a colourful or playful setting, the stage presented a cold, minimalist digital space. Sharp overhead lights cut through the haze, creating long shadows that made the performance feel tense and isolated. Merah, a bright but lonely child, moved stiffly across the stage as she tried to rebuild memories of her parents through a digital fantasy world she had created. As the story progressed and Pekan hacked into her world, the calm atmosphere quickly disappeared. The stage became visually chaotic, with lighting, movement, and sound working together to create a strong sense of confusion and anxiety that was impossible to ignore.
In this review, I focus on the aesthetics of the performance, particularly how the production's visual design and narrative pacing influenced the audience's emotional experience. In my opinion, the minimalist visual style successfully reflects Merah's loneliness and emotional trauma after losing her parents. However, the production sometimes relies too heavily on abstract visuals and sudden shifts in the story, making it difficult for children to stay emotionally connected. While these artistic choices may be meaningful for adult audiences, they risk distancing the younger viewers whom the production is ultimately trying to reach. Rather than creating a comforting journey about healing and resilience, the performance occasionally feels more intellectually demanding than emotionally engaging.
To better understand these aesthetic choices, it is useful to look at Bertolt Brecht's concept of the Verfremdungseffekt, or the alienation effect, from Epic Theatre. Brecht believed that theatre should encourage audiences to think critically instead of becoming completely absorbed in the story. Rather than creating a comfortable and emotionally immersive environment, Imagina adopts a similar approach by presenting a cold, digital world. The use of harsh lighting, minimal scenery, and sudden visual changes constantly reminds the audience that they are watching a constructed reality. This suggests that the production positions technology as an unstable emotional space, where memory and grief are not comforted but intensified through digital distortion. These design choices also reflect Merah's emotional state, emphasizing her loneliness, isolation, and dependence on the digital world she has created. The digital world can also be interpreted as a reflection of how children today often seek comfort in technology when dealing with loneliness.
However, applying theatrical theory also requires careful consideration of the target audience. One moment that stood out to me was the scene in which Merah begins her game, only for the system to suddenly malfunction and transport her into a wartime setting. The lighting became intensely bright, the sound grew louder, and the atmosphere shifted almost instantly from playful to frightening. Although this scene effectively depicted the disruption of Merah's digital world, its execution felt overwhelming, especially for the young children seated on the floor near the stage. I noticed that some of them appeared startled and uncomfortable during this sequence. While Brecht's alienation effect is intended to encourage critical reflection, the intensity of this scene seemed to create fear rather than thoughtful engagement. In my view, the same dramatic message could have been communicated through a more controlled use of lighting and sound, allowing the production to maintain its artistic intention without overwhelming its youngest audience.
Furthermore, this fragmented visual style is also reflected in the play's narrative structure, which at times feels disconnected. After Merah enters the wartime setting, she asks three soldiers to help her find her parents. Shortly afterwards, a scientist suddenly appears and attempts to solve the problem. When his attempt fails, he leaves, and Merah continues her journey alone until she meets a deer who guides her to a cave where the story reaches its resolution. While each character may have symbolic significance, their appearances are brief and underdeveloped, making their roles feel disconnected from Merah's overall journey. This may imply that the production is intentionally mirroring the unpredictability of a digital world, where assistance and obstacles appear without logical continuity, reflecting Merah’s unstable psychological journey. As a result, these scenes interrupt the emotional flow of the story rather than strengthening it. Instead of becoming more invested in Merah's search for her parents, I found myself questioning how each new character contributed to the narrative.
Overall, Imagina demonstrates strong artistic ambition through its visual design and creative use of digital scenography. The minimalist setting, lighting, and multimedia elements create several memorable stage images that effectively communicate Merah's loneliness and emotional struggles. However, I believe the production would become even stronger with a more focused narrative and a better balance between artistic experimentation and audience accessibility. Simplifying the sequence involving the soldiers and the scientist would help create a clearer emotional journey, while slightly reducing the intensity of certain lighting and sound effects would make the performance more suitable for younger audiences. These adjustments would not diminish the production's artistic identity; instead, they would allow its central message of love, loss, and resilience to reach the audience more clearly and leave a deeper emotional impact.
Ultimately, Imagina is an ambitious production that explores themes of loneliness, grief, and the impact of technology on human relationships. Its creative visual design and minimalist scenography leave a strong impression, demonstrating the production team's willingness to experiment with contemporary theatrical forms. However, its artistic ambition is sometimes weakened by an uneven narrative structure and moments of overwhelming sensory intensity, particularly for its intended audience of children. With a clearer storyline and a more balanced use of technical elements, Imagina has the potential to communicate its message more effectively while preserving its unique artistic identity. Overall, it is a thought-provoking production that encourages audiences to reflect on connection, loss, and resilience, while also highlighting the importance of balancing artistic innovation with audience engagement.
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