🎭Indonesia musical festival 2025: where theatre touches the soul
When family stories turn into unforgettable moments
On the opening day of the Indonesia Musical Festival 2025 on November 14, Jaggadhita Motion captured audiences together into a heartwarming story of family and the bond between a mother and her daughter, with touches of comedy and time travel:
“Aku Mendengarmu”.
The musical created an experience that felt so intimate and universally relatable to all families and lingered long after the final applause.
Through its rich Indonesian cultural nuances, “Aku Mendengarmu” encourages audiences to look back on their childhood and reflect on their relationships with their parents.
A Fresh Look at Indonesia’s Musical Scene
The Musical Festival Indonesia 2025 brought together more than 80 applicants, with only 12 selected to perform. This year’s edition took place from 14 to 16 November 2025 at Taman Ismail Marzuki.
The Indonesia Musical Festival has been held annually since 2022 by the Eksotika Karmawibhangga Indonesia (EKI) Foundation in collaboration with Indonesia Kaya.
Among the performers, Jaggadhita Motion (Jagmos) captivated the audience with their original musical, “Aku Mendengarmu”.
The “Aku Mendengarmu” musical explores the emotional distance between a mother, Salma, navigating the challenges of raising her two children as a disabled single parent, and her eldest daughter, Ruby.
Themes of family intertwine with elements of time travel and comedy, creating a performance that is both heartwarming and entertaining.
Inclusivity at Center Stage
“We want to bring a spirit of inclusivity into every performance Jagmos presents. Through this first original musical, we created a story that we hope can embrace friends with disabilities, especially the deaf community,” said Kartika RB, executive producer of Jaggadhita Motion.
The show also honors Nada, originally cast as young Salma, who passed away before the performance, with a sign language interpreter present throughout the show.
Authenticity guided the creative process. Jalusista, scriptwriter and artistic director, conducted extensive research and interviews to accurately portray Salma’s partial deafness and selective mutism.
“Although this work is very personal, as it stems from childhood wounds, I believe the story can still resonate with many people,” he said.
What Brings the Show to Life
The musical’s strength also lies in its original compositions, crafted specifically to support the story.
“What fascinated me most was exploring every emotion in the narrative, because it allowed each feeling to be translated into its own distinct sound. Every character and every moment carries its own musical identity, helping the emotions the story aims to evoke come to life,” said music director Kristian Wirjadi.
The show offers a heartfelt, intangible souvenir—an experience audiences will never forget —through a heart-touching performance that also explores the theme of family. Jagmos’ scriptwriter and artistic director, Jalusista, added that the script was shaped through extensive research and in-depth interviews, given that the main character is deaf and has experienced selective mutism, communicating only through sign language.
“This became a challenge of its own because I am neither deaf nor non-verbal, so I had to be very careful in representing that experience with respect and authenticity… Although this work is very personal, as it stems from childhood wounds, I believe the story can still speak to and resonate with many people. Especially knowing that the rate of fatherless children in Indonesia is high,” he added.
One of the founding members, Sakya Wiradisuria, shared insights into the balancing act required to bring the musical to life on rehearsals at The Fame Studio, revealing the challenges of directing a diverse age range of performers and coordinating schedules for a large cast.
Despite these hurdles, Jagmos pushed through — delivering a performance of a lifetime.
Founded in January 2024 by six former members of the University of Indonesia Paragita campus choir: Kartika RB, Maria Martiningsih, Jalusista, Kristian Wirjadi, Praka Puntadewa, and Sakya Wiradisuria. The group shares a passion for theatrical storytelling that is inclusive, interactive, and deeply meaningful to its audience.
(CCL/RHZ/QOB)