Two survivors of the Khmer Rouge—composer Him Sophy and filmmaker Rithy Panh (
The Missing Picture)—attempt to return dignity to their country’s dead with this musical ritual remembering the Cambodian genocide. Against cinematic evocations of this bruised history,
Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia recruits the Metropolis Ensemble, the Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and traditional Khmer vocalists and instruments—ancient harps, flutes, and the xylophone-like
roneat pluah—to mourn the nearly two million forgotten souls. Mellifluous Buddhist
smot chanting and other all-but-extinct Khmer musical forms are woven throughout a procession that moves from the heavens to the killing fields, culminating in a plea to recognize impermanence as the only path to peace.
Film by Rithy Panh
Stage direction by Gideon Obarzanek
Music direction and conducting by Andrew Cyr
Lighting design by Bosco Shaw
Costume design by Romyda Keth
Music developed in collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble
Original idea by Charley Todd
Produced by THE OFFICE performing arts + film.
Additional support provided by The Rainbow Initiative, Ministry of Culture Taiwan (R.O.C.), Ford Foundation & Institute of International Education, The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture Grant, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Australian Embassy in Cambodia.
More info & buy tickets: BAM 2017 Next Wave