Review: Creangers' MY WAY Platforms Budding Talents

On September 8, 2024, the performing arts group Creangers (Creative Rangers) held a showcase by the name of My Way. The showcase features students of their free Performing Arts Camp 2024 program, bringing a variety of talents onto the stage of Balai Latihan Kesenian (Arts Training Hall), Jakarta.

Performing Arts Camp 2024 is the second iteration of the training program, following their inaugural camp in 2023. After an online audition back in May, 14 students were selected to undergo the 3-month program, taught by performing arts professionals. The students are then tasked to put together short performances that showcase the results of their training, in groups or individually.

My Way can be considered a revue show, performed in a variety of segments. These segments include acting monologues, songs, dances, and even self-contained mini-musicals.

It is a great pleasure to watch these young talents being given a chance to perform on stage to an audience. It is readily apparent why these 14 budding artists were selected; each of them has a burning passion and hunger that readily came across through their performance. They are Nasya Alika D., Angel Fransiska, Nur Fitriani Hidayat, Prissi Ananda, Luthfia As-Shafa, Patricia Dharma, Alyssa Gabriela, Bagus Widnyana, Laurendha Audriya, Amelia, Almer Sophian, Aaron Nathanael, Salma Haiqa, and Muhammad Irsyad.

Being students on different stretches of their artistic journey, the performers had differing levels of skill as well. However, other than their passion, they’re also likewise unified by their confidence. Regardless of their skill level, it’s inspiring to see how comfortable they are doing their craft on stage.

Some highlights include an emotive two-woman dance sequence by Patricia Dharma and Alyssa Gabriela, a daring one-man mini-musical by Bagus Widnyana that unexpectedly incorporated an idol song to dissect one’s sense of self; and another mini-musical by Aaron Nathanel, Salma Haiqa, and Muhammad Irsyad that used doors as metaphor for the choices in one’s life – with an exhilarating magic sequence.

Many of the performers brought charmingly handmade costumes and props to enliven their segment. It’s impossible not to root for these artists, making modest yet honest theater communally alongside their cohorts.

In addition to these segments, PAC (Performing Arts Camp) 2023 and Teater Paradoks also featured as guest performers, with PAC 2023 putting on a show choir performance and Teater Paradoks bringing a preview of their upcoming musical, Kita Liburan Selamanya!

Unfortunately, the sound engineering had multiple troubles throughout the afternoon, including some moments in which the performer’s microphone went sincerely dead. And a majority of the performers couldn’t quite project their voice satisfactorily, leaving their words mostly unheard. Nevertheless, they bravely pushed on, embodying the timeless adage ‘the show must go on’.

What Creangers is doing – providing these fledgling performing artists with a free training program and an opportunity to perform live on-stage – is a truly tremendous service to the Indonesian performing arts scene. Led by Maruf Andi, Christina Tandor, and Gabriela Frederika, Creangers might be where the next Indonesian musical stars find their start. As a matter of fact, graduates of Creangers’ Performing Arts Camp 2023 have been cast in other musical productions.

Creangers runs on donations and people interested in donating or supporting their upcoming projects can do so on their Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/creangers.

 

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