Year Zero” is about a 16-year-old Cambodian-American boy dealing with the loss of his mother, while his sister deals with her mother’s flight from the Cambodian genocide. The play is largely set in the family’s apartment as the kids pack it up in preparation of moving. There is also a scene outside their Temple, a scene in a brothel, and two scenes in the neighbor’s car. A projection surface over the stage was used to show images of the results of the genocide, vistas of Long Beach, and information for the audience.

“Erven and his production team (Christopher R. Boltz on sets and lighting design, Jeff Barrett on sound) experiment with an overhead video screen — which along with various settings, occasionally pans across rows of skulls, a reference to the Killing Fields — to give a more introspective feel to this welding together of generations.” — Donald Monro, Fresno Bee