CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND — Page 2

It looks like I am in the minority here, but I really did not care for this. I found the writing, direction, acting, and design to be extremely amateur. The second act definitely fares better than the first act, but the whole play is just very unbalanced and all over the place. That all being said, I do admire the play for making an effort to explore a dark time in history that I personally did not know a lot about, and I definitely learned a lot.

chrishuyen said: Also, I don't think this was intended, but did anyone else think that Joe Ngo was playing a younger version of Francis Jue's character when first introduced? It threw me for a loop a bit later when Francis Jue talked a bit more about himself. (I obviously did not read the playbill beforehand)."

No, you’re not the only one. I definitely thought that too. Overall, I really enjoyed seeing this. I thought the cast was strong all around and I didn’t have and issues with the direction. Can we talk about the band. Wow. I did have the same issues as everyone else though. The tone all over the place, and I felt the second act was a little long. Overall, I would recommend this, and thought it was a great night at the theatre.

Cambodian Rock Band finally made its way to the Berkeley Rep last month. I saw it Saturday night and was very impressed - as was my wife, who went in completely cold. "The Khmer Rouge, genocide and rock and roll," I said, not terribly reassuringly. when she asked me what it was about on the way inside the theater. (That's all I remembered from long-ago reviews; I got tickets because there was a cheap New Year's Eve offer.) Lauren Yee's play isn't perfect, with easy-to-guess revelations and sometimes clunky plot devices. But the play works once it settles in, daring the audience to have sympathy for the devil and riding the strength of its performances.

The most important characters, not counting daughter Neary/Sothea, are the same as in the Signature Theatre production and they don't disappoint. Joe Ngo had me a bit unsure at first, as I wondered if he was overplaying things as Neary's father. But that all changed once he transforms onstage into his younger self. Waiting in the wings is the always-reliable Francis Jue, as the math teacher turned torture camp head Duch.

Ngo's performance is a marvel. He, Jue, Moses Villarama - and Geena Quintos, taking over as Neary and Sothea - take Yee's script and make it sing. I had found the only other play of Yee's I had seen decidedly mediocre, but this was daring and thought-provoking theater with the power of a concert.

Updated On: 3/6/23 at 04:00 AM