Review: CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND from ACT Theatre And The 5th Avenue Theatre

Dear Readers, last night I discovered at “Cambodian Rock Band”, the latest collaboration of ACT and the 5th Avenue Theatre, that I am officially a cranky old man.  This is an astounding play from an astounding playwright but infused with a rock concert vibe.  Now, I’ve never been a concert guy and while the adage, “If it’s too loud then you’re too old” doesn’t really apply as it wasn’t too loud, I did find the ending “concert” to be too long.  We’ll touch on that more in a minute, but did I mention how astounding this play is?

Lauren Yee’s outstanding work takes us into the atrocity of the Khmer Rouge and their horrifying reign over Cambodia between 1974 and 1979.  But we first enter the play in the late 2000’s as Neary (Brooke Ishibashi) is about to bring to trial war criminal Duch (Phil Wong), one of the perpetrators of those atrocities as the head of S-21, a prison where enemies of the state were brutally tortured and murdered.  But just as Neary is about to track down the final survivor from S-21, her father, Chum (Joe Ngo), unexpectedly arrives in Cambodia from the US.  At first, she finds him a little more than a nuisance, but she soon realizes he harbors his own secrets about his time in Cambodia that may throw her work into chaos.

But far from a simple look back at a history many Americans know too little about, the show is told with a rock beat as we flashback to Chum’s youth and his time with his own Cambodian Rock Band (hence the title) during that era.  The music used, largely from real band Dengue Fever, is stunningly performed by the actors on stage as they become the bandmates in Chum’s past, Sothea (also played by Ishibashi), Leng (Tim Liu), Pou (Jane Lui), and Rom (Abraham Kim), and brings the story to life as we see the western influences in the music.  Influences that were despised by the Khmer Rouge, leading to imprisonment of many artists and musicians. 

And while the music in the show was vital, the cranky old man in me came out after the story was over and the band came back for a mini concert.  Just like the mega-mixes in so many musicals, I find this kind of forced encore in a show to be gratuitous and only there to get the audience on their feet easier for the obligatory standing ovation.  And at an already over 2 and a half hour run time, this tacked on show only served to add to the time before cranky old men like me could get to the bathroom.  I will say, others in the audience seemed to love it but I find these moments like a hat on a hat, just superfluous and unnecessary.  But that was the one downfall this cranky old man could find in an otherwise scintillating story with some artful direction and staging from Chay Yew. 

The band, in a word, rocks!  And while much of it is in the language Khmer, the essence and feeling of the songs came through thanks to these talented musicians who seem to travel between the music and the story with ease.  The wonderful Lim and Lui spend the most of their time in the band, although they do pull double duty as others in the story.  And special kudos to Lui who is also listed as Music Supervisor and Co-Music Director alongside Matt MacNelly.

But it’s Ishibashi, Liu, Wong, and especially Ngo who convey our story.  And they do so in some of the most searing and heartbreaking performances I’ve seen all year.  Ishibashi delivers a heartfelt performance as both a disillusioned daughter and the lead singer of the band and has a killer voice.  Liu too is a gifted musician but also turns in a stunner of a performance as Leng, a friend forced to commit horrors to survive.  And Wong as the war criminal in question delivers a truly interesting turn as he starts out the show as a kind of narrator, with humor and charisma that puts the audience totally on his side, only for us to discover the monster within, which he manages to convey with utter empathy. 

And last but certainly not least we need to discuss Joe Ngo.  This is, quite simply, a tour de force performance.  He not only traverses an incredible arc going from middle age to young adult and back, also combined with some insane musical talent, but his stunningly raw portrayal of a victim of Duch and the Khmer Rouge is worth the price of admission.  An absolutely vulnerable and emotionally draining performance that will stick with me. 

And so, while the cranky old man in me may have had his issues, the rest of me (and really him as well) adored most of the show.  So, with my three-letter rating system, I’ll do my best to subdue the cranky old man and give “Cambodian Rock Band” a rousing YAY.  Now this cranky old man needs to go take his Geritol before he gets any crankier.

“Cambodian Rock Band” from ACT and the 5th Avenue Theatre performs at ACT through November 5th.  For tickets or information, visit them online at www.acttheatre.org.

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