What is Lakhon Bassac
Overview
By Ben Bao
Lakhaon Bassac is a traditional opera play, a Cambodian type of entertainment. It is one of the most popular plays in Cambodia in the old days, especially in the rural countryside, performed in the dry season (summer) after harvesting crops during a festival. The performers are skillful actors, beautiful voice vocalists, wardrobe specialists, make-up artists, skillful musicians, and more. They form their group and give themselves a name (a business name). In the countryside, villagers hire them to perform for guests' pleasure during a special occasion or festivity. It is always outdoor performance and during nighttime. Before 1970 (before the Cambodian Civil War), it was almost always the festival organizer who built a makeshift opera stage and the performance group brought their stage materials and equipment. Today, the performance group has its mobile stage unit. They will take care of everything so organizers can sit back and enjoy the show.
Before 1975, there were two commercial opera houses in Phnom Penh, Lakhon Phsa Tuoul Tumpoung and Lakhon Phsa Silep. Also, Cambodians are still memorializing two iconic Lakhon Bassac stars even though they already passed away: Mr Saing Sarun and Mrs. Chek Mach.
Origin
Source:
https://khmerstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/lakhaon3-en.pdf
Additional Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhon_Bassac
https://disco.teak.fi/asia/lakhon-bassac-2/
Lakhon Bassac originates from Lakhon Treoung Klok ', a type of opera show performed in the Bassac region of Kampuchea Krom, a Cambodia lowland region that is now part of South Vietnam that was given to Vietnam during a century-old French Protectorate era. Lakhon Bassac made its debut in Cambodia in the 1930s. Quite often, Mr. Ly Suon, known as Merchant Chha Kruon, brought a Lakhon performing troupe from Kampuchea Krom to Phnom Penh and had them performed in Cambodian high-land provinces along the Bassac River. The performances became very popular and people began to call it "Lakhon Bassac". Lakhon Bassac is also influenced by Chinese opera, known to be the original root of this kind of opera, and the Vietnamese opera as Cambodian low-landers have been living under Vietnamese rule.
In the 1960s, Lakhaon Bassac was strongly promoted by well-known actors such as Mr. Sang Sarun and Ms. Chek Mach. Today, Cambodians still consider them legendary performers. Their unparalleled voices were so beautiful that no one today can match-up to such a high caliber of singing and performing art. In 1993 the Ministry of Culture of Fine Arts officially recognized Mrs. Chek Mach as Virak Selapakarini (Grand Master of Artist). She died in 2011. Not much is known about Mr. Saing Sarun 's biography. He is no longer on earth. We do not know how and when he died. Most of us presume that he died during the Khmer Rouge era during which almost all of highly skilled performers were killed. Saing Sarun and Chek Mach voices remain with us on taped recordings. Click the links below to listen to the voice recording of Saing Sarun and Chek Mach:
| Or Neak Mean Kun (Mother Grace) by Saing Sarun |
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| Excerpt from Preah Vesandor by Saing Sarun |
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| Preah Vesandor by Saing Sarun and Chek Mach |
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| Lakhon Bassac song by Saing Sarun |
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This form of Cambodian entertainment is now on the brink of extinction due to the influence of modern cultures. Very few performing troupes exist for hire and we do not even know if there is any opera house or theatre in Phnom Penh or elsewhere.
Characteristics
Lakhaon Bassac is a performing art that tells a complete story or a legend. The legend always consists of a story about a Kingdom reigned by a King and a Queen. They have a prince who has to endure an adventurous journey from the luxurious royal palace to a deep jungle searching for knowledge, wisdom, warrior skills, and magic power from a legendary master called Ta Eiysey (a character as an old wise man, normally wearing white clothes, a funny-looking walking stick, and a long white beard) who seems to live in a secluded, mountainous area. The prince's journey is usually accompanied by a personal servant, a comic character with spectacular gestures that cause audiences to laugh. At the Asrom (house) of Ta Eiysey, there is a servant called AKeang, also a comic character.
The king, the queen, and the prince represent a good spirit and a good guy. The Yeak (a giant character sometimes called Asura) reigned a Nokor Yeak (Yeak 's Kingdom). Despite the ugly-looking appearance, not to mention the size, the Yeak sometimes has a wife also a Yeak, sometimes a beautiful human wife. However, the Yeak always has a beautiful human daughter, in most stories, she was born from a lotus flower. The Yeak found her by chance and raised her as a daughter.
While the prince learns his fighting skills and magic power from Ta Eiysey, the Yeak acquires similar skills from Ta Eiyso. Ta Eiysey and Ta Eiyso have similar characters.
The Yeak is said to represent an evil spirit, a bad guy. But each story is complex and hardly judged. The beauty of the princess who is the Yeak 's daughter, always caught the prince's attention. He sneaks into the Princess's palace and lures her into loving him. Once the Yeak finds out, the war breaks and the magical power fighting begins between the prince, who just completed his training, and the Yeak.
In later years, Lakhon Bassac stories were about contemporary life. But the basic performance is almost the same. The Lakhon Bassac is not characterized by how the story goes. The story can be told by another means such as a movie producer who could take the story and shoot a movie out of it. It has the following main characteristics:
Costume: The male stars, usually the prince is wearing a costume sewing with very complicate patterns. The costume and the crown are decorated with beautiful jewelries. His weapon is an arch and bows or a stick.
Yeak: he/she always looks ugly.
Performance (prince): jumping up and down, turning around, and waving his weapon according to the sound of a drum. He sings a song with a music that choreographed specifically for this type of entertainment. Here is the sample of a prince performance:
Performer: Son Kim Sin
Video: by Edmond de Gaiffier
Performance (princeess): Dance with hand gestures and footsteps similar to Cambodian Classical Dance. Here is the sample of a princess performance:
Performer: Sokanya Bou Shelko
Video: by Edmond de Gaiffier
Performance (Yeak): jumping up and down, turning around, and waving his weapon according to the sound of a drum. He sings a song too, but his voice is a yelling style as to scare people of. Here is the sample of a Yeak performance:
Performer: Phon Bun and Arnold Nhim
Video: by Edmond de Gaiffier
Performance (Yeakhaney): Similar dancing to male Yeak, but smoother; turning around according to the sound of music and drum. She usually is looking for love. Here is the sample of a Yeakhaney (female Yeak) performance:
Performer: Kunthary de Gaiffier
Video: by Edmond de Gaiffier
Performance (Taeiysey and Akaing): Walking with a funny-looking stick, most often calling for Akaing to attend him. Here is the sample of a Taeiysey and Akaing performance:
Performer: Taeiysey: Kheang Teav; Akaing: Sok Nou
Video: by Edmond de Gaiffier
Music: a scene is always preluded with a sound of a drum and a melodic sound of a low-pitch fiddle and a dulcimer.
| Sample of drum beat |
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| Sample of scene prelude |
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Ta Eiysey and Ta Eiyso: Ta Eiysey is a master of the prince. Ta Eiyso is a master of the Yeak. They both wear similar clothes and live in a secluded Asrom (house).
Samples of Lakhon Bassac Characters
Prince (Son Kim Sin)
Photo: Truong Ly
Yeak (male) Phon Bun
Photo: Truong Ly
Princess (Sokanya Bou Shelko)
Photo: Truong Ly
Yeakhaney (Female Yeak) Kunthary de Gaiffier
Photo: Samudd Chhim
Ta Eiysey and Ta Eiyso (Kheag Teav)
Photo: Truong Ly
Akaing (Servant of the Prince or Ta Eisey or Ta Eiyso) Sok Nou
Photo: Truong Ly
Lakhon Bassac performance by CCD volunteers duringCambodian Festivel 2017.
For full video performance: http://www.cambodiancommunityday.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=432&Itemid=689
Lakhon Bassac performance by CCD volunteers during Khmer New Year 2014.
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