About the Show

This darkly funny, electric new play with music tells the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia, as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia's most infamous war criminals.

From the show:

Guitars tuned. Mic checked. Get ready to rock! This darkly funny, electric new play with music tells the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in thirty years, as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia's most infamous war criminals. Backed by a live band playing contemporary Dengue Fever hits and classic Cambodian oldies, this thrilling story toggles back and forth in time as father and daughter face the music of the past. Directed by Chay Yew, the New York premiere of this intimate rock epic about family secrets is set against a dark chapter of Cambodian history. It launches Steinberg Award-winning playwright Lauren Yee’s Residency 5.

Critic Reviews (15)

"Partying With the Khmer Rouge in ‘Cambodian Rock Band’: Lauren Yee’s ambitious, tonally mixed play uses bait-and-switch tactics to approach the dark heart of a genocidal regime."
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3/5 Stars. "Directed by Chay Yew, 'Cambodian Rock Band' doesn't quite hang together as a whole: It relies too much on contrivance and exposition, especially in the modern parts. But there's something both touching and rousing about the way it honors the lost beat of Cambodia's past. It's an act of defibrillation."
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"Men to Watch in 'Cambodian Rock Band', 'Blues for an Alabama Sky,' and 'The Headlands'"
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"Lauren Yee’s play draws on the music of Dengue Fever to track the fate of a fictional Cambodian band that ran afoul of the Khmer Rouge."
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"One of the most widely produced new American plays of the current season, Lauren Yee's plugged-in confrontation with genocidal history takes its New York bow in Chay Yew's electric production."
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"‘Cambodian Rock Band’ is vibrant, moving, and overstuffed"
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"Lauren Yee's Fabulous 'Cambodian Rock Band' Is the First Great Play of 2020: Yee's award-winning drama comes to the Pershing Square Signature Center."
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"'Cambodian Rock Band' is notable for its confident, if shocking, trajectory, from a wisecracking family drama with kicky musical interludes to a struggle for survival under the most pitiless of conditions."
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Cast and creative team

Signature Theatre Company