Theater moved me

PUTERI GUNUNG LEDANG THE MUSICAL

Actor: Datin Tiara Jacquelina (Puteri Gunung Ledang), Stephen Rahman Huges (Hang Tuah), Ac Mizal (Gusti Adipati), Adlin Aman Ramli (Sultan Melaka).
Venue: Istana Budaya



At the time that Dr Edwin asked us to go for theater as one of the course activity and will be given marks, my friends and I already signed ourselves for musical theater. It was Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical (PGLM). To me it was a great movie which I was not able to watch it at the cinema. Before this I had already tried to get myself into the theater hall watching this beautiful stories live, unfortunately I don’t really have access to the any of the events. This time I was so thrilled that finally am able to watch theater play in real theater house. Although that I used to watch theater before this, it was not staged in a theater hall instead it was staged at the public hall. However it was a great experience and it motivates me to watch more of this drama play. Coming back to PGLM, almost half the class went for the play. Despite of the traffic and confusing parking lot due to the flooding people going to the theater, we are able to make it in time. When the play started, the whole Istana Budaya filled with applause. I felt so amazed and full with spirit at that time. The set/props used were beautifully arranged as expected from a very big production. Some of my friends were not really enjoying watching it. To me if you are not into this kind of thing, you might just stop talking and commenting (saved it after the play) and just watch. From there you might get something or even admired the play because if you watch while criticizing, you will not benefitting anything through out the whole play as your mind is clouded with other thing. Puteri Gunung Ledang is a well known princess in the Malay history. She poses mystical power that no one ever caught their eyes on her. In the play, she is a Javanese princess by the name Gusti Putri Retno Dumillah and she is the sister to the ruler at that time, Gusti Adipati. One day, Melaka sent his best man to Java due to the threat the kingdom gets from Demak ruler. From here on, the princess falls for one of the Melaka’s messenger, Datuk Laksamana Hang Tuah. They were so attracted to each other and one day Hang Tuah had to leave Java going back to Melaka. The princess promise to Hang Tuah that if he does not come back to Java, she will across the oceans and stay at Gunung Ledang waiting for him there.

She really did that and as time pass for few weeks, Sultan of Melaka ordered his man including Hang Tuah to deliver his proposal for the princess at Gunung Ledang and this really surprises Hang Tuah but it is his oath and his stands that he will not disobeyed his Sultan at any cost. When he delivered the sultan wish to the princess, the princess was very upset and regretted her faith on Hang Tuah. She thought Hang Tuah will not obeyed the Sultan this time but he is what people said, the Sultan best man, following every single word of the Sultan accordingly. He did what the Sultan asked and the Princess felt so disappointed in him that she gave a lot of thing (crazy and pointless thing) as her dowry. These entire crazy thing that she asked includes the Sultan own son’s blood. She actually wants to reject the proposal by being sarcastically but the Sultan does not realizing it and he actually was challenged by that demands. In the end when he wanted to spilled his son’s blood, Gusti Puteri appeared out of no where (seriously, it was full of magic at that time in the hall) and she apologies to the Sultan but the Sultan was not interested in it and he banished her to Gunung Ledang and will not be seen by anyone and to those who sees her will tragically died. The love triumph between Hang Tuah was not achieved, instead it is said that this is the time where Hang Tuah vanished from this world looking for his beloved princess. Some says that he is still remaining at Gunung Ledang with the princess. No one knows the real story of him and the princess ever after that. It was a very satisfying moments watching the play. Although the setting and the duration of the play was so long, I never felt it as I enjoyed each and every moment of it. The setting was really intriguing and almost to the real situation. The castle was real with big door. I wonder how they managed to lift heavy the props. The only disappointment is that our seat was at the very top and we could not manage to see the play from the front instead we could see all the things that people down stairs cannot see. The most admirable thing is the magical elements that they put in. it was as real as you will not noticed the people in the set disappeared. How I wish that I am one of the actor because it will be a great honor to work with such production. This is the most admirable and memorable play in my life. Although this was my third time seeing a play staged at Istana Budaya but this one have a great impact on me the most.