CRB FB Banner.png

FEB 13 - MARCH 23, 2025

Cambodian Rock Band

By Lauren Yee
Featuring Songs by Dengue Fever
Directed by Chay Yew

CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND

East West Players in community with Outside In Theatre presents the LA premiere of

By Lauren Yee
Featuring Songs by Dengue Fever
Directed by Chay Yew

FEB 13 - MARCH 23, 2025
Opening Night February 16, 2025

 The David Henry Hwang Theatre,
120 Judge John Aiso St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Part-play, part-rock concert, the Los Angeles Premiere of Lauren Yee's CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND, directed by Chay Yew and featuring music by Dengue Fever, explores the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor as he returns to Cambodia after 30 long years.

Performance Schedule

Latest News

Cast

Kelsey Angel Baehrens
Abraham Kim
Tim Liu
Jane Lui
Joe Ngo
Daisuke Tsuji

Company

Creative Team

Director
Chay Yew§

Co-Music Directors
Jane Lui and Matthew MacNelly

Original Costume Design
Linda Cho†

Additional Costume Design
Ashphord Jacoway

Co-Sound Designers
Megumi Katayama† and Mikhail Fiksel†

Original Scenic Design
Takeshi Kata†

Production Scenic Design
Mina Kinukawa†

Lighting Design
Derek Jones

Projections Design
Jason H. Thompson†

Hair & Make-Up Design
Yoko Haitz

Properties Coordinator
Glenn Michael Baker

Fight Director
Cesar Cipriano

Associate Director
Graham Schmidt

Tour Production Stage Manager
Merrick Williams*

Stage Manager
Edward Khris Fernandez*

Assistant Stage Manager
Jenny Park*

Assistant Sound Designer
Ben Truppin Brown†

Assistant Costume Designers
”J.J” Javier
Shaunte Williams

Cambodian Consultant
Sokunthary Svay

Producer
Jane Lui*

* AEA member

§ SDC member

USA 829 member

Kicking off the season in February 2025, EWP will present the Los Angeles premiere of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, featuring music from Dengue Fever—the LA band that inspired the play after Yee attended one of their Long Beach concerts. This poignant new classic of the American theater canon has taken the country by storm, and EWP is proud to be the first to bring this production to Los Angeles County, the home of the largest ethnically Cambodian population outside of Cambodia.

This part-play, part-rock concert explores the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor as he returns to Cambodia after 30 long years. As his daughter prepares to prosecute one of the regime's most notorious war criminals, the ghosts of their shared past begin to stir. This deeply moving story weaves back and forth through time as father and daughter confront history, turning to music as a path towards healing.

This production brings back Director Chay Yew and features members of the original cast from the show’s world premiere at South Coast Repertory. Yew also helmed the off-Broadway premiere at Signature Theatre.

There’s no better feeling than bringing the epic experience of CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND home to Southern California for its LA premiere at a theater I have long admired and whose importance to the Asian American theater movement cannot be overstated.
— Lauren Yee, Playwright
In CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND, Lauren has deftly fused history, arts, politics, rock concert, family drama into a potent work. This funny intimate epic touches on the timely issues of genocide, human rights abuses and immigration; the rights of refugees and emigres; the consequences of apathy when a country shifts under the brutal regime; and the destruction of freedom of expression and art in the midst of personal and political upheavals. In Lauren’s astute eyes, one thing remains consistent throughout our temperamental world: the resilience and enduring power of art and artists. CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND celebrates the indomitable legacy of art — how artists capture our individual and national spirit and hopes; and the uncanny ability of art to inspire, affirm our humanity, and to bring us together. I can’t think of a more important play for our current times.
— Chay Yew, Director
Bringing CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND to Los Angeles is a profound moment for East West Players and our community. We’re not just presenting a play—we’re sharing a vital story that resonates deeply with our region’s vibrant Cambodian community. This production represents everything we strive for at EWP: powerful storytelling, authentic representation, and artistic excellence that bridges generations and cultures.
— Lily Tung Crystal, EWP Artistic Director

Playwright Lauren Yee

Playwright Lauren Yee is best known to EWP audiences for The Great Leap (2019), co-produced with Pasadena Playhouse, and is one of the most produced playwrights in America. Yee’s current commissions include Arena Stage, Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Second Stage, and South Coast Rep.

Director Chay Yew

This will be Chay Yew’s fourteenth artistic collaboration with East West Players. His directing credits with EWP include Big Hunk o’ Burnin’ Love (1998), A Beautiful Country, in association with Cornerstone Theatre Company and Mark Taper Forum’s Asian Theatre Workshop (1998), Golden Child (2000), Red (2002), Sisters Matsumoto (2002), M. Butterfly (2004), Question 27, Question 28 in association with Japanese American National Museum and Mark Taper Forum’s Asian Theatre Workshop (2004), Durango (2007), and Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, a co-production with Center Theatre Group (2023). As a playwright, EWP has produced Yew’s Whitelands Trilogy - Porcelain, A Language of Their Own, and Half Lives (1996), as well as Red, A Beautiful Country, and Question 27, Question 28.

Greater LA Khmer Community Tickets

In alignment with East West Players’ mission of community representation and access, Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal is working closely with leaders in the greater LA Cambodian community to reserve and significantly subsidize over 20% of all seats specifically for Khmer audiences. This initiative ensures that those most profoundly impacted by the story have the opportunity to experience CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND. 

If you or someone you know is part of the greater LA Khmer community and would like to access discounted tickets, we encourage you to reach out to the Khmer Alumni Association at khmeralumni@gmail.com.

Sponsorship & Support

CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND is sponsored in part by an anonymous donor, with additional support from dozens of individual community members.

Community engagement activities and events, panel discussions, and auxiliary programming is supported in part by Los Angeles County First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.

Opening Night and Artist Mixer events are sponsored by Far Bar.

Logo for LA County First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis

Read our COVID-19 Policy

Stay Connected With East West Players

Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about everything EWP! Upcoming productions, tickets, community events, and more, right to your inbox.