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OUR STAFF
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Cofounder and Director
"Hou" - CHHIT Chanphireak
“I make theatre with and for people who are in situations that I was in myself before I started doing theatre. I was living in poverty, using drugs, thinking in a really short-term way, lacking a conscious awareness about the situation I was in, and not using my potential. Theatre can be something which lets us see ourselves, and then we can decide whether or not we want to change.”
Hou is the Artistic and Executive Director of LKO. He directs plays, writes scripts, leads programs, facilitates workshops and is a skilled Forum Theatre “Joker”. He has over 20 years experience working with theatre, and counts his experiences working with Théâtre du Soleil as a life-changing opportunity, which influences how he thinks about the power of theatre and the importance of guiding untrained actors to be powerful performers.
Hou holds a Certificate in Peace and Conflict from the ForumZFD Academy for Conflict Transformation, 2024.
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Cofounder and Managing Director
Bonny COOMBE
“The moments that mean the most to me are when people reclaim their stories. A woman embodying the role of a volatile man so completely it was like she had physically transformed - and when the Police Chief came onstage in the Forum to show his idea, he couldn't get anything past her. Or how a woman could re-enact an experience of being beaten by her husband while her neighbours heard and ignored it. In the rehearsal room, she had her story properly witnessed, then worked with her group to weave their experiences into a play they are still touring today. Amazing people doing courageous things, it’s a pleasure and a privilege to get to work with them.”
Bonny is a theatre for individual and social change adviser, researcher, writer and educator from the UK, who came to Cambodia for 6 months in 2013 and is still here now. She left her academic path in order to work alongside Cambodian theatre artists to develop a sustainable platform for their work. This vocation led her to co-found LKO, where she serves as Managing Director today.
Bonny has a BA in Applied Theatre from London’s CSSD and an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds, where she first met Ashley Thompson. She worked alongside the late great world-leading Joker Terry O’Leary on Cardboard Citizens tours to homeless hostels and prisons in London from 2008-2010. These experiences are critical to how and why she works with Cambodian practitioners to explore Forum Theatre today.
Program Assistant
SOM ARTH Sreymao
"Lakhon Komnit Organization is a place that allows me to think more deeply and understand more about women in the community."
Sreymao supports LKO’s programs as an administrator, coordinator, officer manager, and hands-on member of the off-stage team at our performances and workshops.
Alongside working at LKO, Sreymao is completing her undergraduate studies. She is a member of the Human Library, a peacebuilding initiative led by students of Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University, who research Cambodian culture and history by interviewing and collecting oral testimony from elders.
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Finance Manager
PHO Bora
Bora is trained as a classical musician, and was a member of the cast of the Théâtre du Soleil and Phare Ponleu Selpak coproduction of The Terrible and Unfinished History of Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia. He holds a BA in Accounting and Finance and has been part of the LKO team since 2021.
Community Key Actor Leader
POUV Sovan
Sovan is Leader of the LKO Women’s Group of Community Key Actors, and a talented theatre artist, performer and budding facilitator. She first joined LKO as a project participant in our first women’s empowerment program in 2017, and has been participating with us ever since. Today, she plays a key role in ensuring LKO’s work can reach more women in vulnerable situations, engage men in awareness raising and behaviour change, as well as providing support and leadership to the women in her group.
Community Key Actor
CHHOUN Lina
Lina is a talented theatre artist and performer, with a wealth of experience co-creating and performing in Forum Theatre plays on a variety of social and development topics. She has a passionate commitment to working in theatre projects which help people to raise their voices and change their behaviour.
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