The Continuum: Beyond the Killing Fields is a documentary-performance that tells the real life stories of four Cambodian artists during the Pol Pot regime. These four Cambodian artists recount their sufferings and demonstrate their strong will to survive despite having lost many of their family members, close friends and peers. Em Theay, who is in her seventies and one of the few survivors of Cambodia's National Ballet, dances the harrowing story of her life under Pol Pot, in a piece combining dance, song, video, puppetry and shadow theatre. In a stark set, and simply dressed in traditional Cambodian sampot, the performers - Em Theay and two younger female dancers execute perfect finger, hand and wrist gestures attuned to their feelings, resuscitating a tradition vital for inventing today's culture. The production transcends techniques to offer this art's essence, in an attempt to sustain Khmer culture and restore the meaning of Angkor. The whole epic element is created through the use of shadow puppets manipulated by Cambodian puppeteer, Mann Kosal, which tells the history of modern Cambodia under the Pol Pot era. Kosal himself suffered too, during the Pol Pot regime.

A self-reflexive approach is maintained by the frame of the documentary maker or outsider inter-phased with real live experiences of these Cambodian artists. Together, these different elements weave a tapestry from many different braids but ultimately paint a collective picture.

Performed by: Em Theay, Kim Bun Thom, Thong Kim Ann, Mann Kosal and Yen | Music Composed by: Yen |Lighting Design: Scott Zielinski | Video by: Norlinah Mohd

ONG KENG SEN

Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen is an active contributor to the evolution of an Asian identity and aesthetic for contemporary performance in the 21st century. He studied intercultural performance with the Performance Studies Department at Tisch Schools of the Arts, NYU, and holds a law degree. His belief in the juxtaposition of different art forms and cultural styles has helped him create his own epic performance style of directing. These productions are often in collaboration with international artists, both traditional and contemporary and from across disciplines. He is especially well known for his Asian Shakespeare Trilogy and docu-performances (such as The Continuum: Beyond the Killing Fields; The Myths of Memory, Sandakan Threnody, and Diaspora). His productions have been presented in numerous centers and cities that include the Lincoln Center New York; Tanzquartier Vienna; Oslo Dansenshus; Zurich Theater Spektakel; Paris Centre National de la Danse, and the Lyon Danse Biennale.

In 1994, Keng Sen conceptualized The Flying Circus Project, a laboratory project that brings together traditional and contemporary Asian artists from all disciplines. Since 2004, European, American and Arab artists are included. He also initiated a new network for Asian artists to encourage inter-Asian engagement, known as the Arts Network Asia (ANA). As a curator, he is known for his inter-disciplinary approaches. He conceived and directed "In-Transit," for the House of World Cultures, Berlin. He also curated the Insomnia@ICA season of Southeast Asian cutting edge young visual artists and filmmakers for London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, as well as Spaces and Shadows, a programme on contemporary South East Asian art and urban societies, in the House of World Cultures in Berlin. Ong's Flying Circus Project (Special Edition, Yokohama): The School of Politics was presented at the Yokohama Triennale. A Fulbright Scholar, Keng Sen is also the first Singapore artist to have received both the Young Artist Award (1992) and the Cultural Medallion Award (2003) for Singapore.

Further Reading: 

Theatreworks

Flying Circus Project

Cambodia Remembers Itself_The Continuum

Ong Keng Sen_Wikipedia 

Authenticity Reflexivity and Spectacle Lee (.PDF)

BKF NYTimes 2001 (.PDF)

Creating High Culture in the Cultural Desert of Singapore (.PDF)

img065a (.PDF)

Ong Keng Sen Encounters (.PDF)

The Continuum Review Asian Theater Journal (.PDF)

Theatreworks Flying Circus Project Grehan (.PDF)

Theaterworks's Desdemona.pdf (.PDF)