What is SuperFolk?
SuperFolk serves to showcase the brilliance, depth, and breadth of folk arts while demonstrating its ability to connect traditions of the past, present, and future across different mediums, disciplines, genres, and cultures. We hope that this program inspires, nurtures, and encourages us to reclaim and redefine the role of folk in our communities by demonstrating the arts’ natural propensity for collaboration and cooperation toward new ideas and concepts.
SuperFolk tests our boundaries for genre and classification, giving us permission to slide in between and amongst dimensions that have been too often demarcated into tiny little boxes. Within the realm of SuperFolk, all ingredients are good ingredients and can belong together in various interpretations, tapestries, and amalgamations.
April 23rd: Union Arts Center presents The Aves
Pre-Show Performance by Jim Page and Joe Martin
NW Folklife and Union Arts Center (ACT Theater & Seattle Shakespeare) have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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The Aves
by Jiehae Park, directed by Sheila Daniels
April 23rd, pre-show 6:30, show 7:30
An older couple enjoys a summer day on a park bench, talking about birds and the likelihood of rain. A simple conversation…or maybe more. An ordinary afternoon transforms into a shifting world of surreal possibilities in a stunning and surprisingly funny meditation on memory, forgiveness, and the lifelong process of becoming who we are. From the mind of acclaimed playwright Jiehae Park in her signature innovative style, this Seattle premiere will reignite your sense of wonder.
https://www.unionartscenter.or...
Jim Page and Joe Martin
Jim Page was named by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians in Seattle History.” He has recorded 24 albums over the course of a 50-plus year career and written a mountain of songs. Originally from California, Page has called Seattle home since 1971. In ‘74 he led a successful campaign to legalize busking (street performing) in Seattle, where it had been outlawed for decades. The city is now a magnet for all the street arts, and in 2014, Jim was presented with an official proclamation by the Seattle City Council in recognition of this accomplishment. His songs have been covered by The Doobie Brothers, Leftover Salmon, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, and Michael Hedges. He has toured in 13 countries, including the US, Canada, Ireland, the UK, most of northern Europe, and Taiwan. Bonnie Raitt said: “Jim's been writing great topical songs for as long as I can remember. In the tradition of Woody and Dylan, he cuts right to the heart with music you actually enjoy listening to. I'm a longtime admirer.” The late Utah Phillips said, “If you’re ever going to get the message, this is the messenger to get it from.”
Boston Irish social worker Joe Martin, often referred to as "Seattle's chief proletarian", is a co-founder of the Downtown Emergency Service Center and the Pike Market Medical Clinic, which began in a vacant tavern site in 1978. Now in a modern facility at Post Alley and Virginia Street, it serves 3,600 patients annually, most of them low-income and elderly. His seemingly tireless activism and principled political stand have earned him the Seattle Human Rights Award, and he's had a low-income housing project named after him.
Joe Martin is also a life-long singer and harmonica player. Growing up in an Irish house of music, it came naturally to him. His band, Clay Pipe, was well known around the Northwest, only retiring recently because of the passing of one of the members.
Jim Page and Joe Martin have played together off and on for years. It's a natural fit.
June 11: Union Arts Presents, Friday
Pre-Show Performance by Sin Fronteras
NW Folklife and Union Arts Center (ACT Theater & Seattle Shakespeare) have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Frida
written & performed by Vanessa severo, directed by joanie schultz
June 11, pre-show 6:30, show 7:30
The singular Frida Kahlo comes to life through the spirit of playwright and performer Vanessa Severo in this stunning one-woman show. Severo explores the parallels between their two lives as she embodies the many facets of this complex artist. With music and movement, Frida’s evocative art, multilayered love life, and distinctive philosophy are sketched out in a visual dynamo of a piece that encourages us all to realize we are not alone.
https://www.unionartscenter.or...
Sin Fronteras
At a time in the Pacific Northwest when there is growing involvement in arts and social justice, there has been renewed interest in the nueva canción (“new song”) movement from Latin America. Seattle area trio Sin Fronteras (“without borders“), are highly skilled performers of this tradition and emigrated to the U.S. from Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. They describe the music as having “vibrant rhythms, soulful melodies, and breathtaking harmonies – songs of life, humanity, and love.” The song lyrics alone are some of the most beautiful poetry in the Spanish language.
Past Events
February 19th: Union Arts Center presents A Midsummer Night's Dream
Pre-Show Performance by Brandon Vance and Henry Lebedinsky
NW Folklife and Union Arts Center (ACT Theater & Seattle Shakespeare) have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespear, directed by Desdemona Chiang
April 23rd, pre-show 6:30, show 7:30
Shakespeare’s most popular comedy pulls us once again into the magic of the moonlight. Four young lovers flee their families in pursuit of love in the forest but get more than they bargained for when they land in the middle of a faerie feud. A chaotic night of love potions, merry mischief, and mismatched couples—plus a very lost troupe of actors—weaves an otherworldly spell. When morning comes, will the midsummer enchantment last, or fade like a dream?
https://www.unionartscenter.or...
Brandon Vance & Henry Lebedinsky
Brandon Vance is an internationally acclaimed Scottish fiddler and violinist, celebrated for his artistry bridging traditional and classical music. He is the recipient of Scotland’s 2017 Royal National Mòd Sutherland Cup in Scottish Fiddle, and remains the youngest two-time winner of the U.S. National Open Scottish Fiddling Championship (1999, 2001). In 2021, he earned first prize at the Dan R. MacDonald Memorial Fiddle Competition in Charleston, South Carolina.Vance has performed and taught internationally, serving as guest lecturer at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy, guest artist for the 50th Anniversary of the Armagh Piper’s Club, and featured soloist at the Royal National Mòd in Fort William, Scotland. He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra at Severance Hall, performing his original composition Gael Storm for fiddle and orchestra.
Hailed by The Miami Herald for his “superb continuo… brilliantly improvised and ornamented,” historical keyboardist, composer, and conductor Henry Lebedinsky has performed with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Charlotte Symphony, Seraphic Fire, Sonoma Bach, and the Cantata Collective, among others. Recent conducting engagements include the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Sonoma Bach’s Live Oak Baroque Orchestra. As part of a career built on collaboration, he serves as co-Artistic Director of the Bay Area’s GRAMMY-nominated AGAVE and, with Stephen Stubbs, as co-Artistic Director of Seattle’s Pacific MusicWorks from 2018-2023. With countertenor Reginald L. Mobley, he has introduced listeners on three continents to music by Black composers from Baroque to modern, including recent appearances at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and Festival Printemps Musical des Alizés in Morocco. In 2014, he founded Seattle’s Early Music Underground, which brought Baroque music to brewpubs, wineries, and other places where people gather, and presenting it in multimedia formats which both entertain and educate.
October 23rd: Union Arts Center presents Shrew
Pre-Show Performance by Shelby Natasha
NW Folklife and Union Arts Center (ACT Theater & Seattle Shakespeare) have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Shrew
by William Shakespeare, directed by Bobbin Ramsey
October 23rd, pre-show 6:30, show 7:30
Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Girl agrees to marry boy against her will so her sister can get married, too. Got it? Experience Shakespeare’s play of matrimonial misery as you’ve never seen it before. Shrew uses the classic text—inverted, upended, and overturned—to offer a modern-day perspective on how far we’ve come when it comes to love—and how far we still have to go.
https://www.unionartscenter.or...
Shelby Natasha
Shelby Natasha is a songwriter and music producer in Seattle, Washington. Heavily influenced by her upbringing living between China and the Pacific Northwest, her music is a blend of alt-rnb and Chinese folk music. Her ghost-like vocals are performed alongside the traditional Chinese instrument, Guzheng, layered on top lofi beats.
September 25th: Union Arts Center presents Enemy of the People
Pre-Show Performance by Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons
NW Folklife and Union Arts Center (ACT Theater & Seattle Shakespeare) have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Enemy of the People
By Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Amy Herzog
September 25th. Pre-Show 630, Show 730
Allen Theater
Amy Herzog’s “smart, sharp, and relevant” (Deadline) take on this Henrik Ibsen timeless classic wraps us deep in an entangled web of truth, power and complacency. Dr. Stockmann has it all – but when he uncovers a catastrophe in the making that threatens lives, he runs up against those in power. As tensions rise, Stockmann must choose: follow his conscience, and risk destruction? Or join the conspiracy?
https://www.unionartscenter.or...
Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons
Seattle songsters Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons give life to voices that have long been silenced in American culture. Their award-winning performances are highlighted by story-telling that, rather than bringing the past to life, vividly shows how the past still lives in the present.
Through their songs, audiences witness current issues crop up again and again in folk songs, dance tunes, acoustic blues, and prison ballads. Ben & Joe bounce from fiddle & banjo breakdowns to a cappella field hollers, early jazz to gospel songs featuring Piedmont guitar style and rattlin’ bones.
June 12: ACT Contemporary Theater presents Twelfth Night
Pre-show performance by Countercurrent
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Twelfth Night
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Annie Lareau
June 7 – 22, 2025
Falls Theatre
Viola is in love with Duke Orsino, who is in love with Olivia, who is in love with Cesario, who is actually…Viola. Seattle Shakespeare Company makes its debut at ACT Contemporary Theatre with a new joint production of this gender-fluid romp and treasured comedy, set in a hopeful post-WWII Italy. Director Annie Lareau explores the diversity of love, reminding us how relevant Shakespeare remains today.
https://www.acttheatre.org/twe...
Countercurrent
Countercurrent is a powerhouse acoustic folk duo based in Olympia, Washington, featuring driving guitar, lyrical fiddle, harmony vocals, and foot percussion. Bringing the deep drive of dance music to every performance, their arrangements blend both traditional and modern influences with astounding musicianship and fluency. Countercurrent is a genre-bending experience rooted firmly in the traditional music of the Celtic Isles and America; music that lifts you up and charges fearlessly into the future of folk music.
https://countercurrentmusic.co...
October 17: ACT Contemporary Theater presents Mrs. Loman Is Leaving
Pre-show performance by The Go Janes
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Mrs. Loman is Leaving
By Katie Forgette
Directed by Julie Beckman
Beloved Seattle playwright Katie Forgette returns to ACT with this world premiere! This delightful backstage comedy unfolds on the opening night of the Teacup Theatre’s production of Death of a Salesman where two actors find themselves grappling with more than just their roles. The stage becomes a platform for hilarious and thought-provoking exploration of the human experience.
https://acttheatre.org/2024-25...
The Go Janes
The Go Janes feature ukulele, guitar, and generous doses of delicious harmony vocals on songs from the long view of life.
We have decades of experience as creative artists, community organizers, educators and inquisitive consumers of life. Arni and Patrice are members of the satirical trio Uncle Bonsai; Kathleen Tracy is an accomplished solo artist and community chorus director. Patrice has produced the Wintergrass Festival almost from its inception. Arni and Patrice are also visual artists. and Arni and Kathleen are both sought after educators and coaches working with children, adults, and the differently-abled.
We present well-crafted songs, instrumental interplay, good stories, good friends, humor — things made with our hands and minds, kindness and community. We believe that most people need to create in some form, and we love being a spark that ignites and encourages creativity in others.
SuperFolk - The Cypher, Celebrating the Folk of Hip Hop
NW Folklife is proud to announce SuperFolk: The Cypher, an afternoon celebrating the culture and community of Hip-Hop. On September 25, 2024, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Pritchard Beach Park in Rainier Beach, NW Folklife pays homage to Hip-Hop as an American art form deeply rooted in folk traditions.
The cypher, an integral part of Hip-Hop culture, traces its origins back to African oral and cultural traditions, emphasizing communication, knowledge, and truth. This event bridges the gap between Hip-Hop and folk, making it a one-of-a-kind celebration that brings together the past and present of these vital cultural expressions.
This event is made possible through funding from the City of Seattle, Parks and Recreation, and the Office of Arts & Culture.
CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook: Facebook.com/NWFolklife
Twitter: @NWFolklife
Instagram: @NWFolklife
Hashtag: #NWFolklife
GENERAL EVENT INFO:
Event: SuperFolk: The Cypher, presented by NW Folklife
Where: Pritchard Beach Park, 8400 55th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118
When: Wednesday, Sept 25, 5-8pm
Tickets: Free | Committed to Access for All
September 12: ACT Contemporary Theater presents POTUS
Pre-show performance by Dunava
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Dunava (from Dunav, the Bulgarian name for the Danube river) is a Balkan women's vocal ensemble dedicated to studying and performing traditional folk songs from Eastern Europe with respect and authenticity. Dunava is a regular performing group at Northwest Folklife Festival, CroatiaFest, Balkan Night Northwest, and the annual Bulgarian Christmas Concert (sponsored by the Bulgarian Cultural and Heritage Center). The choir has been featured by the Seattle Folklore Society concert series, by Seattle Sacred Music and Art (SAMA), and has collaborated with local choirs such as Seattle City Cantabile, Bellevue Chamber Chorus, Pacifica Chamber Chorus, and Bulgarian Voices of Seattle. In 2014 Dunava was the first American group to participate in the international Silver Buckle folk festival in Kjustendil, Bulgaria. Dunava has released three CDs: Dunava (2009), Bulgaria (2013), and Behind the Veil (2021). Dunava is based in Seattle, Washington State.
May 2nd: ACT Contemporary Theater presents The Lehman Trilogy
Pre-show performance by Brivele
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Brivele is a Seattle-based ensemble who braid together Yiddish song, anti-fascist and labor balladry, folk-punk, and contemporary rabble-rousing in vocal harmony. In Yiddish, Brivele (בריוועלע) means "little letter." Like letters, songs travel — through time and over borders. They pick up dirt, aromas, fingerprints. They are sent to lovers, they foment revolution, they get stolen and censored, burned and salvaged, sewn into our clothes.
We journey into the archives of Yiddish anti-fascist musical tradition, bringing together anti-authoritarian satire, mournful remembrances, and the disguised political commentary in folk ditties and theater classics. These songs are a correspondence: our ancestors' voices speak clearly and uncompromisingly, sometimes sweetly, to our present moment.
We are discontented, sometimes silly, rarely slick, always cheeky. We draw from a long tradition of Diaspora-proud struggle. We sing in Yiddish because sometimes Yiddish says it best, and because we are the great-grandchildren of Yiddish, so it tastes familiar and unfamiliar at once. We sing it like the mixed-up, impure Yids we are and strive to be.
By Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power.
April 26-May 12, 2024
Run time: 3 hours 20 minutes with 2 intermissions
Location: Falls Theatre
The Tony Award®-winning Best Play makes a thrilling Seattle debut after a triumphant run on London’s West End and Broadway. The Lehmans began as many American immigrants did in the 19th century: on a cold dock in New York City 1844 as a young Jewish man enters his new country for the first time. Joined by his two brothers, he lives the American Dream: from humble beginnings to outrageous success. 163 years later, that legacy—The Lehman Brothers—comes crashing down, triggering the largest financial crisis in history. How? Why? This extraordinary feat of storytelling invites us to question what success is worth, how legacy is defined, and what we value in the wake of devastating collapse.
Purchase tickets here
March 21st: ACT Contemporary Theater presents STEW
Pre-show & Post-show with Lady Mercedes and Friends
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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From gospel to blues, soul to R&B, country to classical, Lady Mercedes effortlessly navigates the musical landscape, leaving a trail of melodies that linger in the soul. Classically trained and having honed her skills with the University of Oregon's gospel choir, Lady Mercedes roots of gospel run deep. She is the Director of Celebration Arts & Administration at Valley & Mountain UMC, where she is also the choir director. A storyteller through music and song, Lady Merceds bridges genres and hearts, and in her own words, "it's not just a performance, it's a musical revelation."
By Zora Howard
Directed by Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako
Mama’s up early to prepare the perfect stew for a very important community meal. As the day rolls on, tempers go from a simmer to a boil, and secrets rise to the surface for three generations of Tucker women. When the violence hovering around the periphery of their lives begins to intrude upon the sanctity of the kitchen, mothers and daughters wrestle with loss and hope in this hilarious, haunting drama.
Purchase tickets here
SAVE THE DATE!
March 1-2nd: SuperFolk Festival 2024
Where: Washington State History Museum & Tacoma Arts Live Roosevelt Room
SuperFolk is a comprehensive showcase of all the folk art elements. Designed to demonstrate the brilliance, depth, and breadth of folk arts, SuperFolk transcends its vast multi-generational evolution and synthesizes these elements into a weekend of multidisciplinary and inter-cultural art forms that connect traditions of the past, present, and future!
SuperFolk is collaboration and evolution combined. It’s sharing and borrowing new and old ideas. SuperFolk tests our boundaries for genre and classification, giving us permission to slide in between and betwixt dimensions that have been too often demarcated into tiny boxes. Within the realm of SuperFolk, all ingredients are good ingredients and can belong together in various interpretations and tapestries.
SuperFolk also represents a larger strategy to redefine an arts & culture ecosystem that pushes the needle forward to uplift artists through ethical pay, cross-discipline thought partnership, transformational education settings and pathways, and Artivism through coalition and movement building. Simply put, SuperFolk empowers our creative ecosystem to envision a brighter and thriving future for our artists, our communities, and our common humanity!
On Friday night, join us for our kick-off event in the Roosevelt Room of the Tacoma Arts Live Armory! Here, we’ll loosen up with a community jam and dance, surrounded by local crafters and food vendors. Meet the artists who will be performing, and bring your instrument to do some jamming yourself.
On Saturday from 11-4pm, come to the Washington State History Museum and tour the main floor exhibits while our SuperFolk musicians perform within various galleries to punctuate themes explored in each of the exhibits!
On Saturday night, join us for the main event on the 5th floor of the Washington State History Museum, from 6-10pm. Listen and dance to live music as our SuperFolk musicians lead the SuperFolk backing band in new adaptations of their original songs. Peruse the gallery’s exhibits–Avis Marvelous, The Treaty of Medicine Creek, Usual and Accustomed Grounds, and Journeys–fantastic and thoughtful explorations of our relationship with Indigenous communities, nature, and the constancy of change and transformation, all of which are representative of the overarching themes embedded in SuperFolk! Local crafters, food vendors, and other performing artists will be in tow for the 2nd installation of our SuperFolk Party!
Feb 8th: ACT Contemporary Theater presents A Case for the Existence of God
Pre-show performance by Guo Ke and Reynaldo Ruiz (Duo Takinai)
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Takinai is a mix of two words, the Quechua (Bolivian indigenous language) word “Takina” meaning “music”, and the Chinese word “ai 爱” meaning “love.” Joined by the love for music, Duo Takinai (Ke and Reynaldo) interprets traditional and contemporary repertoire from Latin America, Eastern Mediterranean, and East Asia. Members of Takinai bring their own distinct cultural heritages and musical backgrounds to offer their musical interpretation using a wide variety of instruments such as the Andean and Asian flutes, world percussions, guitar, harp, piano, and qanun.
By Samuel D. Hunter
February 2-18, 2024
Run time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Location: Falls Theatre
Inside a small loan brokerage in Idaho, two men struggle to make a place for their family in the American dream, walking a tightrope while balancing parenthood, financial security, desire, and empathy. This award-winning play leads the audiences on a twisting journey of intrigue, revelation and surprise as the lives of two fathers intertwine in a glorious reflection on what it means to be human.
Purchase tickets here
Oct 5th: ACT Contemporary Theater presents Cambodian Rock Band
Pre-show performance by Young-Chhaylee
NW Folklife and ACT Theater have teamed up for the 2023/24 season! NW Folklife will produce pre-show performances in the lobby of ACT Theater before each production. Music and theater's shared roots run deep, so we’re so excited to be able to work collaboratively to produce musical performances that pair thoughtfully with ACT’s series of theatrical productions through the season.
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Young-Chhaylee is a Pacific Northwest artist known for his joyful presence and captivating voice. In SeattleWeekly's Best of 2018, Jake Uitti wrote: "Hearing their harmonies blend as I stood in the back of the room made me feel like I was in one of those often talked about nights a decade ago when the founding members of The Head and the Heart sang together for the first time."
Bandcamp: https://youngchhaylee.bandcamp...
IG: https://www.instagram.com/youn...
By Lauren Yee
Featuring Songs by Dengue Fever
Directed by Chay Yew
September 29-November 5, 2023
Run time: 2 hours 30 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission
Location: Falls Theatre
Guitars tuned. Mic checked. Get ready to rock! This darkly funny hit play with music tells the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in thirty years, as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia’s most infamous war criminals. Backed by a live band playing contemporary Dengue Fever hits and classic Cambodian oldies, this thrilling story toggles back and forth in time as father and daughter face the music of the past.
Purchase tickets here