Under a full moon

The on-stage cast of Breaking the Silence; LtoR: Sakona, Tonh, Sovanna, Sotheary, Sokly, Sina, Vutha

Last month, I watched the first performance of an excellent play titled Breaking the Silence, which has now just finished its initial run in the countryside of Cambodia, taking its message out of the city and amongst the rural population. Here's a report from yesterday's International Herald Tribune.

A drama of closure for victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge - by Sally McGrane (International Herald Tribune)
In Cambodia's Takeo Province, night fell on a field across from the village pagoda. Women cooked crispy cakes over open fires to sell to the crowd. By the time the lights came on, several hundred villagers had assembled in front of a portable stage. The Cambodian actors, dressed in street clothes, began speaking in Khmer. "So many stories. We have to tell our stories," said one. Another said, "How did it happen that Khmer killed Khmer?" 'You must try," said a third, "To help us think this through." The audience in this heavily former Khmer Rouge area watched with attention as "Breaking the Silence," the Phnom Penh-based Amrita Performing Arts' new play, proceeded on Sunday night. Written by a Dutch director, Annemarie Prins, "Breaking the Silence" is based on oral testimony from Khmer Rouge members and victims who had taken part in interviews at the Documentation Center of Cambodia. The play tells the stories of seven perpetrators and victims in a series of short vignettes.

But it is not just a play. Performing concurrently with the Khmer Rouge tribunals, "Breaking the Silence" is an appeal to Cambodians on both sides of the divide to speak up about what happened to them. "We want this to be in the service of the community," the Amrita's program director, Suon Bun Rith — whose grandmother lives in Takeo, just down the unpaved road from the performance space — said on a recent weekend. To this end, after each show, Suon or an emissary invited audience members to come forward and tell their stories. After the performance Sunday night, a man took the microphone. "Those who killed should come and see this show," he said, going on to say that he lived near a man who had killed several members of his family. He cited a scene in the play in which a former Khmer Rouge nurse apologizes for not helping a woman's dying father, explaining that she was trapped by circumstances. "Sometimes I try to talk to this man who killed my family," said the speaker. "But he just turns away." The play is very sympathetic to the perpetrators whose stories it tells, portraying them as victims in their own right. "We don't blame anyone," said Suon. "We want the community to start a dialogue."

The play premiered in Phnom Penh in late February, and then toured the provinces for eight performances, the last of which was Wednesday. This is unusual in a country in which nearly all cultural events take place in the capital or in Siem Reap (and was the cause of some pre-performance confusion for a food vendor in Takeo, who asked Suon if this was going to be a magic show put on by traveling medicine salesmen). The fact that it reaches isolated areas is part of what makes the play so powerful, according to Youk Chhang, who runs the Documentation Center of Cambodia and collaborated with Prins in the early stages of the project. "People talk about the tribunals, and of course that's good for the victims," he said. "But these people can't go to the trials." He was referring to the United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal that began Feb. 17th in Phnom Penh. "This is something for them in the village. This is their stage and their court."

Chhang, who recently proposed to the minister of education that the play be included in school curriculums, dismissed the idea that a Western director might impose a Western understanding of trauma on the actors and audience. "Genocide is a crime against humanity," he said. Prins "isn't Dutch, she's human." He reconsidered, then said, "The title — 'Breaking the Silence' — that's foreign. But we don't call it that, in Khmer." While Amrita translates the title more or less directly, Chhang said that only a handful of educated city dwellers refer to it that way. "The villagers call it 'Khmer Rouge Stories' or 'Pol Pot Stories,'" he wrote in an e-mail message. For Chhang, the play holds up a mirror for the audience — something, he said, that was important for the victims' process of healing from the trauma they have experienced. He also cited the play's emphasis on Buddhist philosophies of forgiveness. Then he added, "I think of myself as a strong person, a bone collector. A relentless genocide investigator. But the first time I saw this, I cried."

The four main actresses were all victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. Morm Sokly, in her 40s, plays a 7-year-old girl in one vignette who, famished, steals the family's rice. "My own experience gives me a depth of understanding for what we play on the stage," she said. "The girl who steals the rice — I have that guilt in myself." The younger members of the production said that they learned from the play, as well. "Before, as a Cambodian, I knew my mom and her family had had very sad experiences and lost family members," said Chey Chankeytha, 24, a classically trained dancer who choreographed the show. "But I had never heard from the people who worked in the killing fields. From the play, you see how it felt to be a Pol Pot child soldier. We should know both sides."

The play's current run ended this week under a full moon in a field across from a rice paddy in Kandal Province with a small but rapt core audience (several middle aged women had returned for a second night in a row). Barring funding problems, the performance will resume in November after the rainy season with another eight shows in the Battambang and Siem Reap regions. Given the reactions of those who choose to speak after the performances, "Breaking the Silence" seems to hit a nerve. After the Saturday night performance in Takeo ended, a gray-haired woman took the microphone. Crying softly, she said, "This was my story I saw on the stage. The kids might not believe it, but it's true."

Silent no more

The on-stage cast of Breaking the Silence; LtoR: Sakona, Tonh, Sovanna, Sotheary, Sokly, Sina, Vutha

Yesterday was a busy day, the type I enjoy the most. I was at the office in the morning then after watching some football on the tv, I went to see Chhim Sothy's exhibition of paintings at the Culture office on Street 63. Sothy was there to say hello, bubbling with enthusiasm and eager to show off his excellent artwork. I love his traditional style and will visit his studio soon to see more of his art, and maybe get a bargain or two. I then walked to the Bophana Center on St 200 for the 4pm first showing of the documentary Bitter Khmer Rouge by Bruno Carette and Siem Meta. The place was packed to the rafters with francophones as the film, which included interviews with Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, was only in French and Khmer. My schoolboy French - actually I only studied it for a year and then got bored - didn't help, so I didn't really understand a word and instead, look forward to seeing the English language version someday soon. However, the footage was interesting and primarily what I came to see anyway, as the filmmakers gave rank and file ex-Khmer Rouge, and their leaders, an opportunity to give their version of events.

The on and off-stage members of Breaking the Silence

I raced away from the Bophana Center and headed for my next appointment, and the 6.30pm start of the brand new play Breaking the Silence, staged at the exhibition hall opposite the National Assembly. This is a theatre piece with word, song, music and dance and is intended to get Cambodians talking about their Khmer Rouge experiences, which is why after two performances in Phnom Penh, the plan is to take it out to the provinces, which is a fantastic idea. Cambodians love live performance though they will see a new style, created by Dutch director Annemarie Prins, which they may find both disturbing and thought-provoking. In seven short scenes the four actresses, a dancer, a singer and a musician bring alive stories and situations from the Khmer Rouge period as a way of opening up a platform for discussion. I hope this will be encouraged when they take the play to the provinces, as this will be an opportunity for many to see their own experiences played out on stage in poignant scenes, like the girl who stopped talking as a teenager after she was brutally raped by Khmer Rouge soldiers, and thirty years on the stigma remains with her and fellow villagers still look the other way out of shame and revulsion. Prins and her team have produced a play that many will find heavy because of its contents but which is based on fact, aided by DC-Cam, and put into a performance situation alongwith song and monkey dance to ensure there's something for everyone. I think it works brilliantly.

Director Annemarie Prins (center) and DC-Cam chief Youk Chhang (white shirt) on stage at the final curtain of Breaking the Silence

Don't miss these

A quick reminder of some events taking place today and the next few days. At Meta House (St 264 near Wat Botum) tonight (Friday), there's the dual screening of New Year Baby, the 80-minute search for family secrets by Socheata Poeuv, followed by Seasons of Migration, showcasing the work of classical dance teacher Sophiline Cheam Shapiro. English language films start at 8pm. Tomorrow night, Saturday, same venue, are two films by the former King, Norodom Sihanouk, namely Shadow over Angkor (1968) and Rose of Bokor (1969), but don't expect great filmmaking, instead, enjoy them for the period pieces they are. Start 7pm.
Tomorrow night is also the first performance of the theatre art work Breaking The Silence, by Dutch director Annemarie Prins and Amrita Performing Arts. It promises to be something very special, dealing with memories and experiences from the Khmer Rouge period, and after the two weekend performances, will be taken on the road to the provinces. It starts at 6.30pm, at the exhibition hall opposite the new National Assembly building and tickets are free. If you can squeeze it in, there's a film about how the Khmer Rouge saw themselves at Bophana Center at 4pm tomorrow as well. Its called Bitter Khmer Rouge (Khmers Rouges Amers), by Bruno Carette and Sien Meta, but the downside is that this version is in French.
An exhibition worth a visit is a display of traditional paintings by artist Chhim Sothy at the Dept of Fine Arts on Street 63, which will run until the end of the month. Next week at Meta House, veteran war photographer Tim Page will be around to open his new permanent exhibition of some of his photographs at 6pm on Tuesday 24th, the same night as the documentary Vietnam American Holocaust by Clay Claiborne, which looks like a very interesting 90-minutes worth of viewing. Link: Bitter Khmer Rouge.

No more silence

A run through of the new play for Culture Ministry officials held this week

Breaking the Silence is the latest offering from Amrita Performing Arts here in Phnom Penh and will be performed on Saturday and Sunday, 21 and 22 February at the Exhibition Hall, opposite the new Parliament Building on Sisowath Quay. This new work incorporates theater, poetry, music and dance based on memories recounted during interviews conducted with a wide range of Cambodians who lived during the Khmer Rouge regime. Veteran Dutch director Annemarie Prins, who staged the successful 3 Years, 8 Months and 20 Days play, will return to stage the play which will then tour the Cambodian provinces, reaching out to those of whom the work is about. The performance will feature the same three actresses Kauv Sotheary, Morm Sokly and Chhon Sina from the 3 Years play as well as a musician, singer, dancer and three young Cambodian visual artists who will create the scenic elements. It will be in Khmer with English subtitles.
The Amrita Performing Arts nonprofit organization was formed in July 2003 as part of the revival and preservation of Cambodian traditional performing arts. Based in Phnom Penh, they have continued to develop their repertoire whilst expanding it to include contemporary expression in dance, theater and music. Many of the artists involved with Amrita's projects come from the University of Fine Arts - both students and teachers and the three actresses who will take part in the play are all at the University. To read more about the activities of Amrita, click on: APA. To read a blog about the play, not all in English, click here.