By James Kon
His Royal Highness Prince 'Abdul 'Azim and Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah yesterday evening watched the theatrical musical drama performance entitled "Tragedi", a romantic tragedy story, at the Empire Theatre.
Their Royal Highnesses were greeted on arrival at the theatre by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Awg Hj Hazair bin Hj Abdullah; his Deputy, Datin Hjh Adina binti Othman; and other senior officials.
The show "Tragedi", a 40-minutes musical drama made its debut on October 9, 2010 at the prestigious Empire Theatre, the show preceded by a three-course dinner.
The show includes traditional music, dance and silat (a traditional Malay martial art) performances by a group of young and talented performers known as lively dancers.
The musical drama was jointly organised by the Culture and Sports Section under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in collaboration with The Empire Hotel and Country Club in Jerudong. The main objective of the show was to showcase the talents and enthusiasm of young Bruneians in the area of performing arts, while at the same time promoting a livelier cultural scene depicting the richness of the Bruneian culture, art and heritage.
Meanwhile it was hoped that more of these kinds of theatre performances be promoted in the future so as to provide the opportunity for tourists and visitors to Brunei Darussalam to witness an artistic representation of Brunei's cultural heritage.
The musical drama theatre show was inspired by the Brunei legendary romantic story of "Lela Menchanai". It tells the tale of a ship's admiral with a royal lineage who during his travel encountered a bubble that contained a princess in the middle of the sea.
That encounter led to a love affair between the admiral and the princess.
However, the happiness was not to last as on their voyage back to Brunei, the admiral passed away when he was accidentally pricked by a needle used by the princess while she was sewing.
The story ended with the heartbroken princess being carried away.
- Borneo Bulletin
(10th October 2010)
