Performing ‘Authentic Indonesia’ Transculturally

Abstract

Indonesia’s involvement in global performance flows across the Asia-Pacific has long been shaped by the nation’s colonial past and postcolonial present. Chapter 3 traced the inward flow of modern European-style drama as a result of Dutch colonization from the late nineteenth century onwards, and the importance of adaptations of Western plays in the development of a modern national theatre. Traditional, regional performing arts, by contrast, are the source of long-standing outward flows — of ‘authentic’ ‘exotic’ forms, staged at international theatre venues, and of expert practitioners, travelling overseas to perform and to impart to Westerners unfamiliar new skills.