Komedie Stamboel : popular theater in colonial Indonesia, 1891-1903 / Matthew Isaac Cohen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Matthew Isaac.

Series:

Research in international studies. Southeast Asia series ; no. 112.

Ohio University research in international studies. Southeast Asia series ; no. 112

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Komedie Stamboel (Theater company)--History.

Komedie Stamboel (Theater company).

Komedi stambul--Indonesia--Surabaya.

Komedi stambul.

Indonesian drama (Comedy)--History and criticism.

Indonesian drama (Comedy).

Theater and society--Indonesia--History--19th century.

Theater and society.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (491 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Popular theater in colonial Indonesia, 1891-1903

Place of Publication:

Athens : Ohio University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Originating in 1891 in the port city of Surabaya, the Komedie Stamboel, or Istanbul-style theater, toured colonial Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia by rail and steamship. The company performed musical versions of the Arabian Nights, European fairy tales and operas such as Sleeping Beauty and Aida, as well as Indian and Persian romances, Southeast Asian chronicles, true crime stories, and political allegories. The actors were primarily Eurasians, the original backers were Chinese, and audiences were made up of all races and classes. The Komedie Stamboel explores how this new hybrid theater pointed toward possibilities for the transformation of self in a colonial society and sparked debates on moral behavior and mixed-race politics. While audiences marveled at spectacles involving white-skinned actors, there were also racial frictions between actors and financiers, sexual scandals, fights among actors and patrons, bankruptcies, imprisonments, and a murder. Matthew Isaac Cohen's evocative social history situates the Komedie Stamboel in the culture of empire and in late nineteenth-century itinerant entertainment. He shows how the theater was used as a symbol of cross-ethnic integration in postcolonial Indonesia and as an emblem of Eurasian cultural accomplishment by Indische Nederlanders. A pioneering study of nineteenth-century Southeast Asian popular culture, The Komedie Stamboel gives a new picture of the region's arts and culture and explores the interplay of currents in global culture, theatrical innovation, and movement in colonial Indonesia. ABOUT THE AUTHOR---Matthew Isaac Cohen is senior lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway University of London. His articles onSoutheast Asian performance have appeared in New Theatre Quarterly, Asian Theatre Journal, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, and Archipel. As a practicing shadow puppeteer, he has performed in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Contents:

Intro

Illustrations

Notes on Sources and Acknowledgments

Introduction POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY INDONESIA

1 SURABAYA'S RESIDENT THEATER, 1891

2 AN ITINERANT THEATER, 1891-92

3 MAHIEU'S MAGIC, 1893

4 KOMEDIE JANBOEL, 1894-98

5 AN INDISCHE THEATER, 1898-1903

6 MAHIEU'S LEGACY

Appendix PLAYS AND TABLEAUX PERFORMED BY THE KOMEDIE STAMBOEL

Notes

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [455]-459).

ISBN:

0-89680-450-X

OCLC:

923681539