‘Dreamweaver’ brings the story of Sarawak’s songket weavers to life in song and drama. – Photo courtesy of Tanoti Productions
SONGKET weaving is a famed traditional fabric art of Sarawak, handed down from generation to generation. Now, it has been brought to life through song and drama in a new musical making its debut in Kuching this month.
Dreamweaver, an original production by Tanoti Productions and Balkon Media, aims to preserve the heritage and art of songket weaving and promote it to a wider audience.
“The musical will allow weaving to attract a different audience, not just those who already appreciate the woven product. It will attract a theatre-going audience as well.
“That is the objective: to ensure that weaving survives by showcasing it through a different genre,” executive producer Datuk Jacqueline Fong said.
Six songket weavers from Tanoti, a social enterprise of Sarawakian women weavers and artisans, will be starring in the musical, giving them a face, voice and identity.
“By putting our weavers on stage, they can tell their own story and become advocates of their own craft,” Fong said.
Director Ambrose Eng said Dreamweaver tells the story of Aaliya, the owner of a weaving workshop who faces the choice of continuing to pursue her art or selling it for profit.
Fong says the magic cloth is a songket piece specially handwoven by Tanoti’s weavers for the musical.
Her antagonist is a merchant who wants to buy her business and take over the ownership of her designs and techniques, thereby cheapening the art and heritage.
“The story follows Aaliya’s journey as she wrestles with the conflict of whether to choose her tradition or profit and modernity.
“She is supported by the voices of her ancestors, embodied in a magic cloth, which is one of the characters in the musical.
“So, it’s really a story about hope and passion that encompasses the longstanding conflict between tradition and profit, between art and heritage or modernity and comfort,” he said.
Dreamweaver features an original script and songs in English and Bahasa Malaysia, performed by two main casts of actors and the six weavers over a 20-show run in Kuching.
“Most of the story is carried through the songs. If you listen to the lyrics, it’s essentially the plot moving forward, matched with choreography and visuals,” Eng said.
According to Fong, the real star of Dreamweaver is the magic cloth, which embodies Aaliya’s ancestors.
She said the cloth is a songket piece specially handwoven by Tanoti’s weavers for the musical.
“The magic cloth is the entity that will ensure the survival of songket weaving in the musical,” she said.
The cast rehearsing for the musical.
Eng added that an actor would be performing the character of the cloth, hidden behind it to express its movements in a human way.
“So, you’ll see the cloth flailing around, dancing and gesturing ‘Yes’ or ‘No’,” he said.Hasmah Yamin, one of the six songket weavers featured in Dreamweaver, said acting in a musical is an exciting new experience for her.
“We learnt a lot from Ambrose about how to act our parts. It makes me feel happy but sometimes also a little sad to be going through the character’s experiences.“The story shows that what we are doing is valuable. It shows how we weave and how to appreciate our art,” she said.
Hasmah hoped that the audience would learn to value songket weaving so that it would not become extinct or forgotten.“For us as weavers, we already have the experience of making songket, so it is all the more important for us to keep it alive.”Dreamweaver premieres at the Old Courthouse Auditorium in Kuching on Dec 11. It will be performed five times a week over the next four weeks until Jan 5, 2025.
