Lakhon Yike Theatre and Robam Yike Dance Genres: Origins, Performance Structure, Music Repertoire, and the Ongoing Process of Modernization

Through the analysis of some performances and interviews of well-known lakhon yike troupe’s leaders conducted in Kampot province of Cambodia in 2015, this article offers insight into the performance structure, the process of adaptation of yike songs from other genres, particularly the wedding genre (phleng kar), and shows the connection between songs and the dramatic scenes. Cambodian music traditions outside the iconic genre of the classical dance-drama, such as lakhon yike, have received little attention in scholarship mainly because of lakhon yike’s foreign origins. The limited literature on lakhon yike proffers general descriptions of its origins, costumes, characters, storylines, and ensemble relating to performances of the last century. This essay provides the first systematic analysis of the musical and extramusical features of lakhon yike as a popular theatre genre, and shows the process of adaptation of the traditional form (lakhon yike boran) in response to new audiences and performing contexts which create a new form of yike theatre and dance.