ELEFTHEROTYPIA

(daily newspaper)

26 August 2004

A stage bus from Indonesia around the Peloponese

Indonesian culture visits Greek culture in towns of the Peloponese. A whole theatre is traveling from town to town on four wheels and offers a spectacle unique and traditional to all seven Peloponnesian prefectures.

It is the traveling show ‘Stage Bus’ which performs with singing, dancing, music, shadow theatre and video projections. This colourful tour is under the auspices of the Indonesian government and the Cultural Olympiad.

A specially transformed multi-purpose bus with all the necessary equipment (shadow theatre screen, video projector, grand piano, drums) brings the 20 Indonesian artists to towns like Argos (26 / 8), Lerna (27 / 8), Tripoli, Sparti, Gytheio, Kalamata, Ancient Olympia etc. performing a-la-carte in each town, in case the space and conditions need some adjustments to the show.

The purpose of this unique trip within culture, which is taking place in the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics in Athens 2004, is the deeper understanding among nations and civilizations as it is presented through the diversity and the variety both of the Indonesian culture and of the multicultural-multinational aspect of the means of expression.

The ‘Stage Bus’ was constructed in Holland in 1994 based on the design by visual artist Aart Marcus and the Helsdingen Trio team. Since then, it has traveled and given performances in the whole of Europe, the USA, Australia and, naturally, Indonesia, the latter having also funded the project.

This moving theatre is none other than a 12-metre long vehicle, whose side unfolds and forms a stage on which all the action takes place.

The ‘Stage Bus’ has its own audio systems, lighting systems and musical instruments, the most impressive being a grand piano.