Identifying the Venue　

 

For some time there was considerable uncertainty as to which theatre was the scene of the 1974 performance. I did not remember whether it was Suramarit or Chaktomuk, although I suspected it was the latter. Both theatres were designed by master Cambodian architect Van Molyvann.

 

The dancers themselves were divided in their opinions and recollections. Menh Kossony initially thought it was Chaktomuk, while Om Yuvanna was sure it was Suramarit. Prum Sisaphantha, who was not present at the performance, immediately recognized the stage structure as that of Suramarit. She pointed out that the Suramarit stage was perfectly flat, while that of the Chaktomuk was slightly angled towards the audience, making it a little more difficult for the dancers to negotiate.

 

The Suramarit Theatre no longer exists, having been burned down in 1994, and then demolished, and the original architectural blueprints had been lost, making it impossible to verify the information about the stage.

Fortunately, however, a set of original blueprints was found by architect Masaaki Iwamoto in Japan, where they had been preserved in microfiche form by a Japanese contractor, Obayashi Corporation, which had worked on the construction of several of Van Molyvann’s major projects. These prove conclusively that the stage of the Suramarit National Theatre was indeed perfectly flat.

 

Subsequently, Mr. Iwamoto brought a number of prints made from the microfiches to Cambodia, where they were on display at the National Museum throughout March 2017. Among them was the original plan of the Suramarit Theatre.