Randai as a contemporary dramaturgy: obstacles and insights from an intercultural transposition

Through a practical engagement with the Minangkabau theatre form of Randai, originating in West Sumatra, this research seeks to understand the limits and potentials of the Randai form to engage non-Minangkabau, urban and Western audiences as represented by theatre audiences in Australia. Th effect of conditions of performance and the enculturation of audience and creative collaborators are considered from several angles in an attempt to shine a light on the precepts of Randai and its constituent artforms (the martial art pencak silat, epic oral narration seni kaba, and the song tradition of dendang jo saluang. The theory of Randai which arises through these explorations suggests an artform whose symbolic resonances are more likely found beyond the formal millieu of Western art theatre where communitarian principles prevail over Western individualism.