woensdag 18 februari 2009

Opwindende tijden!

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Woensdag 18 februari.
Het gaat geweldig!
Annemarie is de compositie flink aan het veranderen zoals altijd. 
Fred Frumberg zegt dat ze nog nooit zulk goed geluid hebben gehad. (Kees, bedankt!)
Zoals eerder gezegd, 25 en 26 februari spelen we in de provincie. Inmiddels zijn 1 en 2 maart daarbij gekomen op een plek waar Annemarie en Nan een jaar geleden met dorpelingen hebben gepraat die heel blij zijn dat we nu ook onze beloften nakomen en ons stuk brengen.

Annemarie is naar een echte Cambodiaanse tandarts geweest, waar ze het plastic bekertje om mee te spoelen per ongeluk fijn kneep.

Hieronder een mailwisseling tussen Michelle, de journaliste van de Cambodia Daily en Youk Chhang, directeur van Documentation Centre Cambodia.

Michelle:
First, your opinion on the text and concept af having both Khmer Rouge and victims speak.
Youk Chhang:
The text has been a fact - not an opinion. The concept has been the reality. We basically just put them into the form of arts so that they will communicate with each other peacefully.
Michelle:
What are your plans for performances in the province: will one of your team go to villages and speak about the day before it, and will they lead an open discussion right after the performance?
Youk Chhang:
There will be no seminar. It is boring! We want the villagers to enjoy the play and learn from it and be pound of their own history at their own pace. we will take the play around the country as part of our outreach activity.
Michelle:
How important do you feel this play project and tour is for Cambodia at this time?
Youk Chhang:
It is very important because it is really Khmer and Khmer people are very artistic and they love to see the play on stage - especially in the villages.
The Khmer Rouge have killed many artists but not the artistic of the Khmer people. It is in their blood. The play will communicate well with the heart of the villagers.
Michelle:
Anything you would like to add?
Youk Chhang:
We need to recognize the beauty in the darkness and treasure it.

Groetjes Annemarie en Richt.

4 opmerkingen:

  1. Lieve Annemarie, Richt en de rest van het team, Ik heb Ferry een artikel gemaild uit de NRC van dinsdag over het tribunaal maar vooral ook over de onwetenheid van de jongeren over de hel in Cambodja tijdens het bewind van Pol Pot. Dat deze vrouwen en mannen uit Cambodja zo'n stuk kunnen maken en spelen is een bewijs van het citaat dat de 'Khmer Rouge have killed many artists but not the artistic of the Khmer people' En met jullie inzet wordt dit astistieke statement over deze donkere periode zo belangrijk en uit een beetje ervaring kan ook ik zeggen, denk ik veilig vanuit Amsterdam; Koester dit project en ik vind het nu al geweldig!!
    Lieve groet,

    Ron

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  2. Hi,
    here's my blog review of the 1st Breaking The Silence on Saturday. review with photos at http:///andybrouwer.co.uk/blog/

    I headed for my next appointment, and the 6.30pm start of the brand new play Breaking the Silence, staged at the exhibition hall opposite the National Assembly. This is a theatre piece with word, song, music and dance and is intended to get Cambodians talking about their Khmer Rouge experiences, which is why after two performances in Phnom Penh, the plan is to take it out to the provinces, which is a fantastic idea. Cambodians love live performance though they will see a new style, created by Dutch director Annemarie Prins, which they may find both disturbing and thought-provoking. In seven short scenes the four actresses, a dancer, a singer and a musician bring alive stories and situations from the Khmer Rouge period as a way of opening up a platform for discussion. I hope this will be encouraged when they take the play to the provinces, as this will be an opportunity for many to see their own experiences played out on stage in poignant scenes, like the girl who stopped talking as a teenager after she was brutally raped by Khmer Rouge soldiers, and thirty years on the stigma remains with her and fellow villagers still look the other way out of shame and revulsion. Prins and her team have produced a play that many will find heavy because of its contents but which is based on fact, aided by DC-Cam, and put into a performance situation alongwith song and monkey dance to ensure there's something for everyone. I think it works brilliantly.

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