On my way to the Gryphon to see a play by a Cambodian first-time playwright I heard on the news that the troubled Pol Pot genocide trial in Phnom Penh was in danger of being closed down for lack of United Nations money.

I had expected that something of the horrors of the Pol Pot regime would surface in the play I was about to see, but I was surprised by the way the play never emphasises the horrific past, though one was left in no doubt whatsoever of its all pervasive legacy on the lives of a Cambodian family through this subtle and sometimes amusing portrait of their lives, dreams and nightmares as they adapt to life in New Zealand.

Produced by a leading Maori theatre group, Tawata Productions, and sensitively directed by Jarod Rawiri, Neang Neak’s Legacy is set in Wellington at a morgue where Veasna (Gary Young) works with a Samoan (robustly played by Rob Ringiao Lloyd) and in a factory where Veasna’s wife, Chantrea (beautifully played by the playwright) works along side a cheery, sympathetic Maori, Zelda (Nancy Brunning in excellent form).

At home Veasna’s taxi driver nephew Songkem (Ralph Hilaga, another good performance) is on the receiving end of his uncle’s determination to make a success of their new life by repeatedly failing to pass his residency test and by having difficulty with mastering English. 

Then Chantrea’s niece, Soriya (Michelle Ny) arrives from Cambodia and suddenly the past catches up on everyone and revelations are slowly made as Soriya’s place in the family causes emotional and spiritual adjustments to be made by all.

The production is greatly enhanced by Jaimee Ward and Wai Mihinui’s setting of three rows of white curtains which, combined with Laurie Dean’s skilful lighting, are beautiful and when, at the beginning, Michelle Ny glides silently on as Neang Neak, a symbolic figure of Khymer culture, and performs an exquisite dance it is a bewitching start to the play.

However, the play needs a few tweaks here and there to tighten things up before it is performed again, as it deserves to be. 

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Impressively committed Tawata Productions has launched yet another new non-Pakeha playwright: Toi Whakaari acting graduate (2007) Sarita Keo Kossamak So, also known as Sarita So, of Cambodian heritage. “If we remain quiet,” she asks in her programme note, “will we completely cease to exist?” 

A large Cambodian contingent on opening night certainly appreciates seeing their own experiences reflected. It is equally important that we more entrenched Kiwis who have become their neighbours and share our daily lives with them – even, and especially, if we are unaware of that because they ‘service’ our lives – take this opportunity to see this world from their perspective.

It is worth knowing in advance that the title refers to the princess Neang Neak, who ruled their ancestral land and took an itinerant prince, Preah Thong, as her husband. Even now, in Khmer culture, the traditional wedding sees the bride and groom dress to ‘become’ Neang Neak and Preah Thong in a ritual that reinforces matriarchal values.

Neang Neak’s legacy, then, arises from cultural roots that go back to antiquity and sustains the sense of cultural identity of refugees from the Khmer Rouge, which committed genocide against Cambodians under Pol Pot in the late 1970s.

All this sits behind, or beneath, the drama that plays out on stage as Neang Neak’s Legacy, set in Wellington in, I’m assuming, the 1990s (given it reflects the experiences of the playwright’s parents). I presume the traditional dance that opens the play, beautifully performed by Michelle Ny, depicts Neang Neak herself. Before she leaves, she makes meaningful eye-contact with the character we will come to know as Chantrea (Sarita Keo Kossamak So).

A hospital trolley quickly transports us to the modern world. It emerges that Chantrea’s husband, Veasna (Gary Young), works as an orderly in the morgue with a Pacific Islander called Lalo (Rob Ringiao Lloyd), who is given to incessant sexual banter – greatly enjoyed by the opening night audience, even as we share Veasna’s pain. Their habit of breaking out into “There’s no business like show business …” is as funny and it is bizarre.

The atrocities of the past are quietly but powerfully evoked when Veasna speaks of his experiences back then; of witnessing horrors and suffering loss at a level that severely tarnishes his sense of being lucky, through good karma. And now he puts great store by the learning of English, as the means by which he and his loved ones will get better jobs in New Zealand.

Chantrea, who maintains her Buddhist faith and the attendant rituals in her home, is initially resistant and there are some deliciously comic moments where she tries to come to grips with this strange new language.

The convention of speaking fluent English when they are conversing in their own language, then adopting heavy Cambodian accents when speaking in English, works a treat – not least in making us realise how readily we tend to associate intelligence with the ability to speak well, and judge character accordingly.  

Veasna’s nephew, Songkem (Ralph Hilaga), who has proved himself to be enough of “a fit and proper person” to work as a taxi driver, also struggles with English in his battle to finally pass the Permanent Resident test. His mother is back in Cambodia, which leaves him emotionally dislocated and constrained when it comes to moving on.

Chantrea’s life is significantly lit up, first in anticipation then with the arrival of her niece, Soriya (Michelle Ny). A complex reunion ensues and we, the audience, become privy to more than Chantrea knows for some time. Meanwhile a bewildered Veansa is suffering from the emotional withdrawal of his wife. 

The slow reveal of what is so and how things are for Chantrea, Veasna, Songkem and Soriya is one of the most compelling elements in this production, as So, Young, Hilaga and Ny map their emotional landscapes and mark the transitional moments with skill. Any problems we Pakeha have in deciphering the exact facts are ours to experience as a pale reflection of their daily struggles.

Chantrea works in a factory canteen with a chatterbox Māori mother of grown children, Zelda, realised in a wonderfully nuanced performance by Nancy Brunning. Only late in the play do we realise that Zelda, too, is something of a refugee in her own country.

It is an interesting decision, and one I applaud, to offset the Cambodian characters with idiosyncratic Pasifika and Māori characters, rather than a Pakeha or two, who would doubtless have been automatically burdened with representing ‘the dominant culture’. The core dramatic conflicts of this play are not ‘them v us’ but ‘past v present’ and ‘free will v predestination’ as their futures are faced, albeit in the context of a dominant western culture.

A past ‘mistake’ dating back to the time of slaughters, separations and internment camps also underpins the whole play – and you’ll have to see it to discover more. Suffice to say the personal redemption story distils our collective human needs at a much larger scale.

Director Jarod Rawiri has facilitated the performances and crafted the production with conscientious skill, in a set backed with three rows of white curtains and with a central making great use of a square structural pillar (set design by Jaimee Warda and Wai Mihinui). Laurie Dean’s splendid lighting design allows for shadow-play and atmospheric evocations, as does the often subtle sound design of Jayde Marter and Busby Pearse-Otene.

Absorbing and impressive as this first outing is, I sense this short four-night season will provoke further development of both script and production, bringing a tighter focus to the central themes en route to the final revelation and tableau suggesting redemption.  

Meanwhile Neang Neak’s Legacy offers a rare and special opportunity to share experiences that surround us daily but may only come to light for most of us through plays like this. For some it will reflect experiences they already share; for most the ‘mirror’ will reveal hitherto hidden realities.

Once more producer Hone Kouka and Tawata Productions have brought essential theatre to life.

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