Critic on theatre Randai Machbeth
Intercultural
theatre frequently risks falling into the trap of superficial exoticism, where
traditional art forms are reduced to mere decorative backdrops for canonical
Western texts. However, the Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA)
production of Randai Macbeth, adapted and directed by Dr. Norzizi
Zulkifli, avoids this pitfall. By filtering William Shakespeare’s dark,
psychological tragedy through the highly structured, ritualistic lens of the
Minangkabau randai tradition, the production creates a fierce
dialectical relationship between West and East.
First
staged to critical acclaim and later revived at the Panggung Eksperimen ASWARA
and Singapore’s Esplanade Pesta Raya, this production transposes the Scottish
play into a distinct Nusantara ecosystem. The core thematic
preoccupations of Macbeth—unbridled ambition, cosmic disorder, moral
decay, and the inevitable retribution of fate—find an organic home within the
warrior ethos and metaphysical worldview of traditional Malay-Minangkabau
performance. An academic critique of this production requires an evaluation of
how effectively psychological realism coexists with stylized folk aesthetics.
While the structural synthesis is exceptionally potent, the hybridization
inevitably demands distinct narrative and emotional concessions.The success of
this structural marriage lies in how the anak randai (the ensemble) are
deployed. In Western staging, Macbeth’s isolation is typically portrayed
through empty stage space or stark lighting. In this production, the 10-member
ensemble forms a living, breathing, claustrophobic circle that physically traps
Macbeth (played by Che Kem) and Puan Macbeth (Juhara Ayob). The legaran
functions effectively like a Greek chorus or an externalized conscience.
Whenever Macbeth contemplates or commits an atrocity, the ring constricts,
moving with aggressive precision. The ensemble does not merely watch the
tragedy; their physical presence reminds the audience that in the communal
worldview of the Nusantara, a ruler's moral transgression is a collective,
cosmic crisis, not an isolated psychological event.
The primary aesthetic tension in
Randai Macbeth is the negotiation between Western psychological
realism—which demands internal emotional transparency—and the non-naturalistic,
highly externalized vocabulary of traditional Asian performance. The production
bridges this gap by utilizing bunga silat (martial arts postures) as
physical metaphors for the characters' internal state.When Macbeth contemplates
the murder of King Duncan, Che Kem does not rely solely on vocal inflections to
convey fear; his body drops into a low, defensive kuda-kuda stance. The
physical exertion required to maintain these martial postures externalizes the
intense weight of his guilt.Similarly, the substitution of the three Scottish
witches with traditional, chanting mystical figures anchors the supernatural
elements deeply within the realm of local folklore and ilmu hitam (black
magic). The weird sisters are transformed from external agents of fate into
manifestations of indigenous cosmic imbalance. Their movements are slow,
distorted, and predatory, matching the creeping corruption of Macbeth's mind.
The violence of the play is sublimated into choreography. Rather than literal, messy sword fights, the climactic battle
scenes are executed via clean, aggressive silat exchanges, transforming
a historical bloodbath into an elegant, ritualistic purge of evil.
The sonic landscape of Randai
Macbeth is perhaps its most triumphant achievement. Traditional randai is driven by the acoustic output of
the performers themselves through tapuak galembong—the sharp, percussive
slapping of the wide-set, low-crotch traditional trousers. The Acoustic Effect: The tapuak
in this production acts as a substitute for a cinematic score. When Macbeth’s
paranoia peaks, the tempo of the ensemble’s clapping and slapping accelerates,
creating an organic, deafening heartbeat that echoes through the theatre.This
acoustic foundation is layered with traditional live instrumentation, including
the piercing wail of the saluang (bamboo flute) and the metallic
resonance of the talempong (gongs). Under the musical guidance and vocal
performance of contributors like Dr. Nor Azura Abu Bakar, the gurindam
chants replace Shakespeare's iconic soliloquies. Instead of Macbeth speaking
his inner thoughts directly to the audience in blank verse, the haunting vocal
melodies externalize the moral judgment of the universe.Visually, the
production opts for an evocative minimalism that respects both the bare-stage
convention of traditional randai and modern contemporary design. The
staging relies heavily on symbolic props and fabrics. For instance, the murder
of King Duncan is executed off-stage, but its violent reality is brought into
the circle through the dropping of stark, blood-stained cloths from a raised
tier. This restraint allows the vibrant colors of the traditional costumes and
the structural geometry of the performance circle to remain the primary visual
focus, proving that traditional forms do not require high-tech stagecraft to
achieve contemporary dramatic weight.
Despite its clear successes, Randai
Macbeth is not without significant artistic compromises. The primary
critique centers on the pacing and the severe narrative compression required to
fit a sprawling five-act Western play into a 120-minute randai
structure.To maintain the cyclical rhythm of legaran – baba – legaran,
vast swaths of Shakespeare's text, minor characters, and subplots must be
discarded. While this hyper-focuses the lens on the central couple, it
significantly accelerates the plot. Macbeth’s transition from a loyal,
conflicted general to a cold-blooded tyrant happens with alarming speed. In the
original text, the descent is an agonizingly slow erosion of human decency;
here, it occasionally feels like a series of rapid, plot-driven
checkpoints.Furthermore, the unyielding structure of randai creates
moments of emotional friction. In a standard dramatic production, a scene like
Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking sequence relies on sustained, uninterrupted tension
as she tries to wash the imaginary blood from her hands. Just as the audience is pulled into the raw intimacy of her
madness, the segment ends, and the leader of the anak randai lets out
the traditional transition cue: "Tak Aiii..., Ih, Ap, Tah, Tih!"
The ensemble instantly resumes their high-energy, rhythmic circular walking,
accompanied by loud trouser-slapping. While this serves the traditional
form perfectly by signaling a change in space and time, it can feel jarring to
a contemporary audience. The sudden shift forces an emotional distancing
(resembling a Brechtian Verfremdungseffekt or alienation effect),
abruptly breaking the psychological intimacy and dramatic momentum that the
actors worked hard to construct.
Another fascinating point of
critique is the translation of character motivations into a Malay-Minangkabau
cultural framework. Minangkabau culture is famously matrilineal, a society
where women hold significant ancestral authority, lineage, and property rights.
This cultural backdrop adds an intriguing layer of complexity to the character
of Puan Macbeth.In a Western context, Lady Macbeth is often portrayed as a
transgressive force who must "unsex" herself, discarding her
traditional feminine empathy to assume a masculine ruthlessness. However,
played within the randai framework by Juhara Ayob, Puan Macbeth’s
manipulation feels less like a complete subversion of gender roles and more
like a perversion of localized maternal and matriarchal power. Her influence
over Macbeth is quiet, deliberate, and deeply grounded in domestic
authority.When she questions Macbeth’s manhood, it carries a double resonance
in a cultural context where a man’s honor is inextricably tied to his standing
within his wife's clan (suku). Macbeth’s subsequent desperation to
secure the throne is driven not just by a vague, abstract lust for power, but
by a manic need to assert dominance in an ecosystem where cosmic, political,
and domestic structures are completely intertwined. This subtle shift in
characterization shows how the intercultural process can breathe fresh,
localized meaning into centuries-old Western character tropes.
Ultimately, ASWARA’s Randai
Macbeth is a highly successful piece of intercultural theatre that
demonstrates the profound elasticity of traditional performance methods. Rather
than treating randai as a fragile museum artifact that must be preserved
under glass, Dr. Norzizi Zulkifli treats it as a living, robust artistic vocabulary
capable of wrestling with world literature's heaviest themes.The production
does not entirely solve the friction between Western psychological realism and
Eastern stylized ritual; instead, it leans into that friction, making the
formal clash part of the performance's energy. The structural compromises and
occasional drops in emotional momentum are small prices to pay for what is
achieved: a visceral performance where Shakespeare's Scottish play feels less
like an untouchable text from early modern England, and more like an ancient,
tragic law written directly into the cultural soil of the Nusantara. For
theatre students and practitioners alike, it stands as a brilliant blueprint
for how cross-cultural adaptation should be approached: with deep respect for
the source text, and an even deeper mastery of the traditional form.
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