Les artistes du théâtre brûlé

In a ruined theatre in the heart of Phnom Penh, a troupe of actors continues to occupy the stage and perform their classics, from Shakespeare to Cyrano, even though Cambodian audiences seem to prefer television. Through the story of these people, Rithy Panh bears witness to the traces left by the Khmer genocide – a trauma subtly introduced by the switching between documentary and fiction. Cinema and theatre also combine to explore whether these artistic media are able to convey the sufferings of a bygone age. The Burnt Theatre also questions the involvement of the artists as a relay of this memory. CD