Review: Global Sevilla Pulo Mas’s Lutung Kasarung is Brimming with Youthful Energy and Talent

On February 21, 2025, Global Sevilla Pulo Mas put on a production of Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Heart. This musical production is an adaptation of the Sundanese legend Lutung Kasarung. The show is led by Global Sevilla Pulo Mas's teachers Christina Sekar (Head of Committee, Dance Coordinator, and co-Director) and Rajasa Rahaditya (2nd Project Manager & co-Director).

To further support the show's creative aspects, the school brought in Banyu (Main Director, Script Writer, Song Writer). For the music, Nindya Tri Harbanu and Muhammad Nur Muhammady served as music directors.

Lutung Kasarung tells the story of Sanghyang Guruminda (Valian Vidarain), a dashing prince living in The Heavenly Abode alongside his parents (Isaac Jayden Surjadipradja and Aishweria Srinivasan). The three of them meet with the royal family of Elysian Infinite, who seek a betrothal between Guruminda and their princess, the elegant but haughty Sanghyang Widyasari (Charlotte Ashley Hampton).

Believing that Widyasari is not good enough for him, Guruminda breaks off the engagement, angering his father. As a result, his father puts a spell on him that transforms him into a langur monkey. He is then sent to the human realm, his father warning that he'll only be able to return to his true appearance if he can find true love.

Meanwhile, problems abound in the kingdom of Pasir Batang. King Prabu Tapa Agung (Pierre Sebastian Raphael) has bestowed the kingdom’s crown to his youngest daughter, Purbasari Ayuwangi (Shaista Tanisha Stokhorst). This was a highly unexpected move, especially to the eldest daughter and queen hopeful Purbararang Ayuluhur (Audrey Clarissa Wiratno).

Purbararang’s ambitious husband, Putra Astamaya (Wayan Arindra Mertayasa), convinced her to smear poison onto Purbasari’s skin. Due to the disfigurement and Putra and Purbararang’s further machinations, Purbasari is then exiled to the jungle.

In the jungle, Purbasari meets a group of monkeys led by Guruminda, now in the form of a monkey himself and going by the name of Lutung Kasarung (Lionel Cornelius Rangga C.P.). Lutung and Purbasari grow close through a series of misadventures, including encounters with an adorable group of jungle sprites that speak in unison, the brash jungle alchemist Teh Srintil (Anaya Ranadewi Soerjo), and unscrupulous poachers known as the jungle mafia.

Eventually, Lutung manages to expose Putra Astamaya’s nefarious plot. He and his team of langur monkeys break into the castle to reclaim the throne that rightly belongs to Purbasari. Lutung manages to defeat Putra, yet not without sustaining critical injuries. As Purbasari comes to his side, the curse is broken through the power of love. Lutung is restored to his divine form of Sanghyang Guruminda, his wounds healed.

Guruminda and Purbasari make their triumphant return to the Heavenly Abode. But, unexpectedly, they step down to live a more peaceful life. Purbasari gives the crown to Purbararang, now repentant after being freed from her husband’s influence. The kingdom rejoices in a song.

Lutung Kasarung is a well-known legend in Indonesia and has been adapted many times. The team at Global Sevilla Pulo Mas managed to craft a version of Lutung Kasarung that feels both familiar and fresh.

While the initial premise of the story stays mostly the same, the story beats after Lutung Kasarung met Purbasari Ayuwangi vary greatly. Most noticeably, it involves a lot more players and factions – chiefly Lutung’s monkey troop, the jungle sprites, and the jungle mafia. While, pragmatically, this might be the expected feature of a school production (to involve as many students as possible), it also gave the story a richer, more epic feel. On the other hand, the bit characters, like Purbasari and Purbararang’s other sisters, got very few lines each. Whenever the sisters speak one by one in turn, it comes across as a routine formality and not quite natural dialogue. 

There are some very progressive ideas written into the script. Purbasari is not only classically beautiful and demure, but also headstrong and inventive – she made woven bags for the monkeys to better gather resources. Sanghyang Widyasari even got to chide Guruminda for his tactless words during their (broken) engagement.

Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Heart also brought a different resolution to the main conflict between Purbasari and Purbararang. Gone were the series of contests between the two princesses that platformed conservative ideas of femininity: cooking contest, hair contest, and fiance contest. The confrontation is more direct, with the fight between Lutung and Putra Astamaya as the climax.

Furthermore, at the end, Purbasari gave up the throne to Purbararang, with her acknowledging her elder sister’s proclivity for governance. While this was a nice twist, and I did like it, the absolution of Purbararang’s usurpation felt rather too sudden. It erased her culpability by placing the majority of the blame on her husband.

Additionally, in between scenes, there are narrations to help set the stage for what’s about to unfold. These narrations are beautifully and eloquently written, further entrenching the show in an  epic fantasy genre. Not to mention it helps to entertain the audience during the blackout.

As for the direction, the show had several stand out moments. First and foremost was the opening number, with an ephemeral mise-en-scène that looked like it came from a painting or a relief on a temple. Sanghyang Widyasari is sitting on the topmost layer, with clouds behind her and a concentric formation of angels around her. This was a stunning way to open the show.

Secondly, all the scenes involving Lutung with his five monkeys (played by Beryl Louis Benneth, Akhtar Chaska Siregar, Joshua Abhi Bolung, Attarneza Syahdendra, and Viriya Rici) are consistently exciting to watch, full of vigor and animalistic physicality. The teen actors made good use of their youthful athleticism to jump on and off the stage. And they were also featured in the show’s several fight scenes, including a big brawl towards the end. Although the stage combat choreography might not be executed perfectly, the action served as a nice variety to further vitalize the story.

And third, there are moments where the creative team opts to use props to add flair to the scenes, such as fluttery fabrics and flags, and even two moments where the ensemble dancers come out with wings lit by LED lights, making for a truly visual spectacle. Although perhaps choosing a rainbow LED configuration makes them a bit too garish, where a more understated choice of color would suffice.

Most of the other scenes worked fine, with enough attention paid to both the clarity and aesthetics of the blocking. There were a few weak areas, like the second scene, where the heavenly royal families of The Heavenly Abode and Elysian Infinite meet. They sat in a row of backless square chairs facing each other. Although it might be meant to look casual, it had the side effect of lessening their grandeur, making them look quite small on the big stage. Having them sat on thrones, or just letting them stand while talking, would have better preserved the aura of divinity that would be befitting of these characters.

As for the music, Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Heart employs a myriad of musical stylings, taking inspirations from everything ranging from traditional Sundanese music to modern Broadway sound. Interestingly, the musicalized opening narration is reminiscent of 1980’s rock operas with heavy use of electronic synthesizer sounds.

The songs are enjoyable and appropriate for each scene. The number that stood out to me was The Walls Have Ears, an ensemble number sung by the palace guards. It’s a ditty about how the rumor of Purbasari’s disfigurement has spread through the kingdom, sinister yet playful at the same time.

Now, onto the performances. Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Heart has a cast of students from Global Sevilla Pulo Mas. As such, the level of polish varies and some stilted deliveries or performances are to be expected, although it is obvious that all the cast put in work to the best of their current capability.

The breakout star of the performance is Shaista Tanisha Stokhorst as Purbasari Ayuwangi. Graceful and regal with an undeniable charisma, she has a magnetic charm to her that makes her the focal point of every scene that she’s in. It is not an exaggeration to say that the gravitas she brought to the role would justify titling the show Purbasari, or at least, Lutung Kasarung and Purbasari.

That is not to say that Lutung Kasarung – as played by Lionel Cornelius Rangga C.P. – is totally overshadowed. He put in an admirable performance, portraying both sides of the character – the beastly physicality of a langur monkey, and the dignity of a prince within. There is also considerable chemistry between him and Shaista, making their budding relationship and the climactic scene where Purbasari laments over Lutung’s unmoving body all the more moving.

Among the supporting cast, Purbararang Ayuluhur (Audrey Clarissa Wiratno) and Teh Srintil (Anaya Ranadewi Soerjo) both had solid turns. Purbararang’s tenacity came through, making her quite a considerable antagonistic force. And Teh Srintil is a larger than life character who’s both matronly and mysterious, who’s undeniably fun to watch as she gleefully cooks up a potion (even if her headdress keeps falling down).

Unfortunately, during the show, there was a persistent sound problem. The microphones or speakers were undertuned or otherwise mishandled, making the dialogues often hard to catch. For the cast members who knew how to project their voices, this was not too much of a problem, but for everyone else, it made their lines barely legible through the big auditorium. This also made some details of the stories lost in transmission.

The artistic design of the show supported the story decently; the sets and properties are serviceable, but the costumes gave Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Heart a unique identity. They definitely evoke the majesty of ancient Indonesian legends and long-gone empires, with intricate golden headdresses and accessories. But they’re combined with colorful, flowing fabrics and the usage of dramatic shapes to create a uniquely ethereal, fantastical look.

The lighting, while sometimes making use of various bold colors to denote different settings or mood, could be more focused and intentional. More to the point, there are a lot of moments when a white light washes over not only the stage, but also nearly half of the audience seats, allowing me (seated in the middle) to see the back of the heads of the people in front of me. For such an epic tale, a more expert lighting design would be able to take it to the next level.

Overall, Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Tale is an interesting new take on the well known, and well produced, legend. There are a few moments and performances that stood out, indicating a bold directorial vision. But – as expected for a school production – there’s unevenness in script, direction, and acting, as well as major technical sound problems. Although these do take away from the show’s overall quality, it doesn’t detract from the creative team’s massive amount of passion, hard work, and dedication.

Like so aptly told in Lutung Kasarung and Purbasari’s tale, beauty and greatness might not come right away, but the journey there is, in itself, worth watching.
Broadwayworld Indonesia is a media partner of Lutung Kasarung: The Warrior’s Heart by Global Sevilla Pulo Mas.

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