FRIDAY 25 & 26 | More Diplomatic Affairs, an original farce set in an unnamed embassy, is the Phnom Penh Players’ latest offering. The play was written by Emma Triller, who promises that “More of the situations are real than you would believe.” It’s the follow-up to last year’s Diplomatic Affairs, which became the topic of many water-cooler conversations in embassies around Phnom Penh. Farce has more set rules than any other form of theatre: it’s like a piece of music or a sonnet. At the same time it can be written about anything. Whatever the cover up, mistress in the cupboard, two dinner dates on the same night, it’s still a farce. Writing a farce is no simple task: it’s like spinning a spider web. Each situation has a story of its own, but they are all connected. “Emma wrote an amazing script,” says Emily Marques, who’s returning to the unnamed embassy with the accent that made her the lead in several audience members’ dreams last year. “The way that everything plays off what came before it… It requires a certain type of writer.” Despite the success of television programmes such as Fawlty Towers and ’Allo, ’Allo, farce remains a uniquely theatrical genre. After all, there’s nothing like sitting in a theatre full of people and watching someone’s day go to Hell. Tickets ($10) for More Diplomatic Affairs are on sale now at Baitong Restaurant, Street 360; Willow Boutique Hotel, Street 21; Bopha Titanic Restaurant, Riverside; Cha Nails, Sothearos Boulevard and Tips & Toes, Street 278.
WHO: The Phnom Penh Players
WHAT: More Diplomatic Affairs
WHERE: Russian Cultural Centre, corner of Norodom Blvd & Street 222
WHEN: 7:30pm October 25 & 26
WHY: Life’s just one big farce, isn’t it?