Lokhon Luang, the Cambodian Court Theatre: Toward a Decline of Women’s Supremacy?

This article examines the evolution of Cambodian court theatre, lokhon luang, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day through three prominent patronesses, Queen Khun Than, Queen Sisowath Kossomak, and Princess Norodom Buppha Devi. It aims to question the authority of female artists who dominated all fields, from dancers and singers to instrumentalists, upon male artists, who had been introduced in the early twentieth century.