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White Gold

Phare Circus
from Siem Reap City, Cambodia

December 7 – 15, 2023
Recommended Grades
Grades 4 – 12
Price
Students: $2
Chaperones: $5
What Kind of Show?
Circus; exhilarating and atmospheric
Running Time
70 minutes with no intermission
Venue
Stage 42 422 W 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036

School-time tickets may only be booked by Partner organizations.

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About the Show

Nourish your soul and savor Cambodia’s artistic heritage with a circus that celebrates healing and joy… and rice, known throughout Southeast Asia as White Gold. Founded by refugees, Phare brings to the stage the special gifts of Cambodian culture, which nearly disappeared at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Cheer hypnotic dance, mesmerizing music and dramatic live painting mixed with juggling, tumbling, teeterboard and other circus arts dating back twelve hundred years.

Witness something incredible.

TravelMag

Please note that the New Victory is temporarily relocating for three productions this fall due to some reconstruction in our home theater. Because of this, all performances of White Gold will take place at Stage 42 instead of the New Victory Theater.

Learn about this short-term change.

Things to Know

  1. Although the New Victory Theater has presented hundreds of international shows since we opened in 1995, this is the first show from Cambodia!
  2. Cambodian circus arts date back to the 7th century. Stone carvings in the temples of the ancient city of Sambor Prei Kuk portray contortionists, jugglers and acrobats!
  3. All performers in Phare Circus undergo eight years of training at Phare Performing Arts School, providing kids from disadvantaged backgrounds with food, education and employment.

About the Artists

In 1994, two decades after the brutal Khmer Rouge abolished all forms of art in Cambodia, eight refugees established the Phare Performing Arts School. They launched Phare Circus in 2013 to support the school, and it has become a major tourist attraction in Siem Reap, Cambodia’s second largest city. Each month they present seven different shows, each of which tell the stories of this formerly war-torn nation through song, dance and acrobatics.

Photos

Photo: Ranuth Yun
Photo: Ranuth Yun
Photo: Ranuth Yun

Creative Team

Staging
Bonthoeun Houn

Staging Collaboration
Agathe Olivier, Molly Saudek

Juggling and Choreographer
Julien Clement

Production
Xavier Gobin

Lighting Designer
Mano Sun

Musical Composer
Chantha Norng

Costume Designer
Dary Tha

Painter
Sereysokun Heng

Curriculum & Trip Planning