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The story-with-music jumps back and forth in time between 1975, 1978 and 2008. It opens in 1975 with a bang of a song from a band called Cyclo. We\u2019re told the song is from the only record they made.<\/p>\nCambodian psychedelic and surf-rock music provide both the backdrop and the catalyst for truth-telling in Lauren Yee\u2019s fascinating \u201cCambodian Rock Band,\u201d playing through Dec. 15 at La Jolla Playhouse.<\/p>\n
Yee, a Cambodian American \u2013 and a UCSD MFA in playwriting \u2013 premiered the play at South Coast Repertory in 2012 and now brings it \u201chome\u201d for a local run.<\/p>\n
Chay Yew, who directed the premiere, helms this show as well, and has brought along five of the original six actors.<\/p>\n
Cambodia is probably not the first place that comes to mind when somebody mentions psychedelic or surf-rock music. Yet before the war in the 1960s and \u201970s that brought the Khmer Rouge to power, Prince Sihanouk (in charge at the time and a composer himself) fostered a vibrant art and music scene there.<\/p>\n
But when the Khmer Rouge took over, artists and intellectuals were the first targets, and music was the first thing to go. Two million people were tortured and executed in labor camps and prisons during Pol Pot\u2019s four-year reign.<\/p>\n
The story-with-music jumps back and forth in time between 1975, 1978 and 2008. It opens in 1975 with a bang of a song from a band called Cyclo. We\u2019re told the song is from the only record they made.<\/p>\n
Luego, el tiempo cambia a 2008, y la camboyana estadounidense Neary (Brooke Ishibashi) est\u00e1 en Phnom Penh para prepararse para los juicios por cr\u00edmenes de guerra contra el r\u00e9gimen de Pol Pot. Neary y el equipo legal est\u00e1n especialmente interesados en rastrear al octavo sobreviviente de la infame prisi\u00f3n S-21, donde tuvo lugar gran parte de la tortura (y muchas de las muertes).<\/p>\n
Neary se sorprende con la visita no anunciada de su padre Chum (Joe Ngo), un sobreviviente del r\u00e9gimen que le dice a Neary por adelantado que no est\u00e1 muy impresionado con su novio Ted (Raymond Lee). Quiere que Neary vuelva a casa y vaya a la facultad de derecho.<\/p>\n
The show knits together the moving story of Neary and her father and the harrowing story of the Pol Pot regime\u2019s campaign against artists and intellectuals. The plot is enlivened by songs from Dengue Fever, a current band playing the Cambodian version of psychedelic and surf-rock music. Some lyrics are in Khmer, some in English, some both. It\u2019s a beguiling combination.<\/p>\n
Cinco de los actores tocan instrumentos y varios tambi\u00e9n desempe\u00f1an m\u00faltiples papeles. Todos son excelentes.<\/p>\n
The set by Takeshi Kata, lighting by David Weiner and Mikhail Fiksel\u2019s sound design are excellent without being intrusive. The same can be said of Sara Ryung Clement\u2019s costumes.<\/p>\n
The story of the Pol Pot regime is another in history\u2019s long string of murderous dictators. It\u2019s the juxtaposition of such horrors with the bravery of those who faced them (and the few who survived) \u2013 enlivened by the inspirational powers of music \u2013 that makes \u201cCambodian Rock Band\u201d such a fascinating show.<\/p>\n
This show is on the list of the top 10 most-produced plays in the U.S. \u2013 with good reason. Get a ticket and find out why.<\/p>\n