Playbill.com, NY
April 27 2005
Couple Find Hope Following Armenian Genocide in Beast on the Moon,
Getting NYC Premiere April 27
By Kenneth Jones
Beast on the Moon, Richard Kalinoski’s warm, sad and hopeful play
about Armenian immigrants emerging from the shadow of genocide, opens
Off-Broadway April 27 following previews and a wide life in theatres
around the world.
The American-penned play, set in Milwaukee, has been a hit in
theatres around the country and internationally since its early
production at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors
Theatre of Louisville.
The New York premiere opens during a week that commemorates the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks of the
Ottoman Empire.
According to a program note in the Playbill, “On April 24, 1915,
under the cover of World War I, the Young Turk government of the
Ottoman Empire began a systematic genocide of its Armenian citizens,
an unarmed Christian minority population. More than a million
Armenians were exterminated through direct killings, starvation,
torture and forced death marches. Another million fled to permanent
exile. Thus an ancient civilization was expunged from its homeland of
2,500 years.”
Tony Award nominees Louis Zorich and Omar Metwally star. Larry Moss
(The Syringa Tree) directs the new production. Metwally (Sixteen
Wounded) plays a young Armenian named Aram, who comes to Milwaukee
for a better life; Lena Georgas plays his wife; Zorich (45 Minutes
>From Broadway, She Loves Me) is a Gentleman, a character important in
the couple’s life; and Matthew Borish is a young boy they take in.
The play is set between 1921-33. Audiences and critics have noted
that despite the dark-sounding title, the play is filled with humor
and hope as Aram and Seta settle into a life beyond the darkness of
the past.
Producers were aiming the play for either Off-Broadway or Broadway in
the last year, but announced Feb. 23 that its nest would be
Off-Broadway’s Century Center for the Performing Arts, off Union
Square. David Grillo and Matthew Salinger produce.
Designers are Neil Patel (scenic), Anita Yavich (costume) and David
Lander (lighting).
Over the last 12 years, Beast on the Moon has been seen around the
world with productions in 17 different countries, translated into 12
different languages, having received more than 40 significant awards.
According to production notes, Kalinoski’s interest in the subject
was spurred by his seven-year marriage to an Armenian woman. “This
play tells a story that the Turkish government has spent the last 90
years trying to erase from the world’s consciousness,” Kalinoski said
in press notes. “But this is a story that the world needs to know.
The story is universal. Healing is universal. The denial has got to
stop so that healing can begin.”
The playwright’s most recent work, A Crooked Man, was seen at Future
Fest in Dayton, OH, in July 2004. Kalinoski teaches playwriting and
theatre at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
Century Center for the Performing Arts is at 111 E. 15th Street, off
Union Square. Performances are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at
7:30 PM with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 3 PM.
Tickets are $65. For ticket information, contact Telecharge.com,
(212) 239-6200.
Visit the official website at
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Turkish officials have been criticized for many years for not
admitting responsibility for the crimes, and for downplaying the
number of dead Armenians (thought to be as high as 1.5 million).
In the April 23 New York Times, Tuluy Tanc, minister counselor for
the Turkish Embassy in Washington, said calling the deaths a part of
genocide was “unfair and untrue” ? a manipulation to gain
reparations.
“We don’t see what happened as genocide, quote-unquote,” Tanc told
the Times. “Unfortunate and tragic events took place during World War
I and bad things happened to Armenians, and Muslims and Turks
also?the number killed is much less than they say ? it’s more like
300,000 Armenians who lost their lives.” He reportedly said that
Turkish leaders recently asked Armenia to set up a commission to
study the killings.