Under the murderous regime of Pol Pot, which lasted from 1975-79, Cambodia and its people came under one of the most ferocious and sustained attacks in history. Its traditional dance piece Weyreap's Battle, a collaboration with the Cambodian University of Fine Arts and an independent outfit called Amrita Performing Arts, comes to the Barbican in London this week.įor Cambodians, the burned-out theatre is a symbol for the country's stubborn, beleaguered culture in general. We have no other place to go."įrom a western perspective, the fact that this establishment manages to function and create works that tour the world is astounding. "Even though it has burned down, we still practise and do everything as before. "Before it was destroyed, this theatre was the best in Asia," says dancer Nup Samoeun, who has been with the company for 29 years. In fact, everything continues as it must have done when this was a full, working performance space. An army of set-builders stagger over boulders in the gutted auditorium, putting the finishing touches to magnificent gilded pagodas and royal carriages. Dancers lope around the rubble doing physical exercises, or swing gently in hammocks under the stage. Actors practise their roles on a stage that is now little more than a mound of scorched concrete, overgrown with palm trees. Despite the devastation, it's a hive of activity. But it is only when you enter the building that you perceive the full extent of what's going on in this extraordinary theatre.
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