Positioning Bangsawan for a contemporary Malaysian audience with a new framework for transmitting Rahman B.'s conventions

More recently, and particularly since 2000, the actual structure of a Bangsawan performance in Malaysia has been a source of contention. As someone who has followed the development of the art form over the last fifteen years, I believe that the absence of written sources of Bangsawan's structure and conventions is the main factor behind this prolonged dispute. Resources on Bangsawan's structure and conventions have fully depended on oral transmission, without any written documents to serve as references. Thus, this research seeks to establish a series of conventions as a guideline for a contemporary Bangsawan performance. Following the first stage of my fieldwork (February to May 2013), a series of Bangsawan conventions was produced, based on the practice of Rahman B., a Bangsawan guru who was awarded National Artiste by Malaysian government in 2003 for his timeless contributions in the development of the Bangsawan art form. As practice-led research, a live performance was created and performed to test and measure these conventions. Five nights of performances were staged from 13 to 15 December 2013 in Panggung Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur City Theatre), with a duration of 120 minutes. The production involved 50 cast and crew, consisting of young performers selected through an audition process on 25 and 26 July 2013. The practice-led component of this project involved a full theatre-making process, divided into three stages: pre-production (July-August 2013), production (August-December 2013), and post-production (December 2013). My role in this performance project is mainly as a scriptwriter, designer, and production maker. An original script was completed based on the internationally known of The Arabian Nights with the title in Malay: Bangsawan Hikayat Seribu Satu Malam (Bangsawan One Thousand and One Nights). The story was adapted to the taste of a contemporary Malaysian audience while retaining the strong influence of Middle East cultures. The aesthetic and creative sides of the production were wholly designed within the framework of Rahman B.'s conventions. As practice led research, I have used Robin Nelson's PaR model to describe how the process informing my practice can be positioned academically. The main outcome of this project is the establishment of a set of conventions as an alternative guide for contemporary Bangsawan practitioners in Malaysia. In addition to producing written conventions, building these into a live performance with fifty young performers was also a ground breaking outcome. The production process of nearly five months provided performers with a deeper understanding of the art form. With the existence of a group of trained young practitioners, the conventions can in the future be applied and practiced more effectively and continuously.