I knew nothing about the Khmer Rouge going into this read, so the introduction and ending glossary really proved helpful in deepening my understanding of the setting and culture. I loved leading into this read with a suggested short video to watch. It was a trailer to a documentary that's relevant to this story very much, but not tied directly to it. It felt almost like a pseudo-trailer for this story despite any direct correlation to that video and this play. "If you want to eliminate values from past societies you have to eliminate the artists." That line from the trailer set the tone for what was to come in this story.

My biggest praise for Lauren Yee's writings here, are that they showcase a historic time for Cambodia and fill me in on the beautiful parts of their culture and music. I rocked out so hard to all of the music, but Uku by Dengue Fever has to be my favorite. One part because it was the first song that I listened to of their many tracks. (Cyclo by the same band is actually the first song listed, but I couldn't find it at first.) The rest of the music does such a great job of filling the atmosphere as I read the play, so I truly recommend to interrupt your reading with turning on these songs as they come up in the story.

That atmosphere has a lot of humor strewn about and does get quite intense as flashbacks come into the mix. It balances moments of camaraderie amongst friends with other moments that ask questions like, "How far would you go to protect your family and future?" and "What does that protection entail?"