Opening night!

(If you want to give a reaction: push the 'reacties' button at the bottom of the message.)

Sunday February 22

Yesterday we had our opening night. Tonight the second performance in Phnom Penh. 

Both sold out! (around 400 people each).

The audience was around 80 percent Cambodian. This is far more then we would have reached when we would have played in an indoor theatre.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre Cambodia, send out this email to his friends today:

I have never seen such a powerful play since the Khmer Rouge collapsed in 1979. Cambodians are broken people living in a broken society. 

People say to us that we are people without soul and/ or that our soul is still wondering around. But I found our soul at the play of Breaking the Silence last night.

The play is very important for Cambodians (NOT foreigners) to see and hear. It is about us, the Cambodian people. 

It helps us restore our dignity and humanity and it will help us to lift up our morality and reconciliation. It helps our children to understand their country. 

I plan to discuss with the Minister of Education in the coming weeks and hope to use the play as a supplement text for genocide education's teacher guidebook (to be published soon) in every high school (1321 high schools). We will begin to train 3000 teachers this coming June to teach the Cambodian genocide in global context to the high school students for the first time in 30 years. 

I also want to record the play for radio stations across the country as well. 

It is just timing to do it.

End of the day.

Friendly greetings Annemarie, Nan, Ferry and Richt.