A Cambodian American friend in the office has been taking me to a bunch of cultural events in Phnom Penh.
On 7/31, I went to a Cambodian Rock show. It was pretty cool. They put a Khmer spin on a western style. The music was pretty cool, though I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had understood the language.
The only annoying part was that there aren't any laws about smoking indoors in Cambodia, so bars (the show was at a bar) are very smoky.
On 8/3, I went to a show at the Japanese Cultural Center. The (Filipino) stars of a musical from last year were performing along with a Cambodian orchestra. They switched off between songs from Where Elephants Weep (a love story with themes tailored to contemporary Cambodia) and West Side Story.
The stars were so-so, but the music was amazing. Usually, non-verbal music doesn't move me, but I could really feel the orchestra. They had a few instruments that you usually don't hear, and they were incredibly skilled.
The show at the Japanese Cultural Center was the lead up to a week long series of events at a big theatre in the center of Cambodia for the Cambodian Youth Arts Festival. I was able to make the shows on 8/9 and 8/10.
I think that I would have really loved the shows if I could speak Khmer, but because I can't, they were a mixed bag. The music was all very good, and I could appreciate it, but about half of the time was plays in Khmer. There was a traditional play about a couple who starts the plays as birds but die a tragic death and are reincarnated for a long series of lives until they finally have a happy ending together. There was a play about relationship abuse and sexual trafficking. There was a wedding play. The people that I went with explained what was going on, so it was still a good way to understand a little more of the culture, but I missed out on a lot. In particular, it seemed like all of the plays had a good mix of humor (some slapstick, some witty) that I wish I had been able to appreciate.
It was nice to see them talking about relationship abuse, though.
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