‘Cambodian Rock Band’ plugs in at Berkeley Rep — where it all started

Dengue Fever had come to the Big Apple to perform a concert in 2015, but it was an unrelated meet-up with Bay Area playwright Lauren Yee that is having a lasting impact for the Los Angeles band.

“She wanted to meet up and have a beer and talk about some stuff,” recalls Zac Holtzman, guitarist and co-founder of Dengue Fever, which got its start in 2001. “She told us a little bit about her idea of basing her play on a Cambodian rock ‘n’ roll band.”

Yee had definitely reached out to the right group, which is known for performing classic Cambodian pop and rock tunes.

The idea sounded appealing to Holtzman and his bandmates, so they decided to join the San Francisco-born playwright on the adventure. The next stop was the Ground Floor, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s new-play development program. where the work — dubbed “Cambodian Rock Band” — was first developed in 2016.

All these years later, “Cambodian Rock Band” is finally set to make its Bay Area premiere at the Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre. Directed by Chay Yew, the play with live music begins in previews Feb. 25 and runs through April 2.

The play, described as darkly funny, tells the tale of a survivor of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime who returns to Cambodia after 30 years, right as his daughter is set to prosecute one of the country’s most notable war criminals.

It features a soundtrack of classic Cambodian songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s, as well as modern Dengue Fever numbers, performed by a live band onstage.

No, that live band isn’t Dengue Fever, but rather a group of actors who have received training in the music.

“We basically helped the actors learn how to play our songs,” Holtzman says of Dengue Fever’s involvement during the early developmental stages of the play.