By Peter Maddern
The story of Cambodia is not a happy one; a peaceful agrarian society drawn into the Vietnam War by US bombing in pursuit of an enemy they never defeated that unleashed in 1975 four appalling years of the Pol Pot regime. Even more than 30 years on, things are not much recovering even if the invaders and the despots are gone.
The Sunrise Villages run by Geraldine Cox are orphanages (near Phnom Penh) acting as oases and hopefully staging grounds for the young generations of Cambodia to pursue meaningful, productive and educated lives. Of course, their work can affect only the lucky few, even if they arrive there devoid of life’s fortune.
Cambodia Sun Rising endeavours to tell this whole story through a mostly child ensemble, from the classical, traditional and ordered world of the Kampuchea ancient civilisation through to the modern day realities of street kids and westernised culture. From Apsara dances to hip hop and folk tunes to western beats, the performers are complimented by video stories from some of them of their lives to date and their aspirations.
The scenes depicting the Pol Pot regime from Year Zero are most effective, leaving none without a sense of the losses – cultural as well as human – without over reaching.
The performance ends metaphorically as well as dramatically with a plead to us, the audience, about what we can to assist these children and so many more like them as well as the country as a whole. Whereas, the major charities tend to tug ever so hard on the heart strings in the 30 seconds of the time they may capture your attention, directors Cate Fowler and Ninian Donald allow these feelings to develop much more intrinsically, naturally and thus more convincingly. The message is neither one of despair nor inevitable triumph, but a measured view of the rights children should have to a safe upbringing and the opportunity to prepare themselves for adulthood (that is, those we consider our own to possess) in a country that lost everything and is trying to rebuild in a world that preys on the weak.
The dancing, singing and musicianship are all finely executed, many of the 30 or so kids’ personalities become known to us without creating stars and the pacing of the performing and the story is all craftily handled.
Jacinta Thompson and her OzAsia Festival and others who supported making this show happen this year all need to be congratulated and one hopes this ‘world premiere’ leads to other countries embracing this very modern story of youth, hope and sadly still unresolved tragedy in their theatres as well.
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