From his Musical
Shadows of the Rainforest
NOTES BY PHIL GRAY
Today's performance sees just a snippet of the show. The songs include 'Pulau-pulau' (Islands),
I wrote the musical "Shadows of the rainforest" in 2008. I have been to Indonesia several times -
The group are all current and former students of a primary school in the Colac area.
We will be performing 5 songs from a musical I wrote last year, called "Shadows of the rainforest".
This production was performed twice at COPACC (Colac Otway Performing Arts & Culutural Centre).
Our school do a musical production every 2 years.
Some Aussie kids travel to Indonesia and both cultures share differences & commonalities.
An environmental problem arises, resolved by the fact that “kids are kids” and that “adults need to grow up”.
We are introduced to some basic Indonesian language, music, and dance along the way.
We also meet some Indonesian animals and shadow puppet characters.
'Percakapan' (Conversation), 'Hutan hujan' (Rainforest), 'Shadows of the rainforest' and 'Bahasa Indonesia' rap.
The songs & lyrics clearly explain the messages underlying the play;
i.e. "Save the rainforests! Save yourselves!"
as a student, teacher and tourist.
I have also been involved in many amateur theatre companies and singing groups over the years.
This story gave me an opportunity to combine these experiences and enrich the school's Indonesian program.
This is the sixth musical I have written and directed, and for the perforance at Torquay will take the
form of a play reading with two songs at the end.