Taking 12: The Year in Review
By Aram Kouyoumdjian

Critics’ Forum
12.23.06
Theater

Last year, as I looked back on the theater scene of the preceding
twelve months, I counted on the fingers of one hand the number of
productions by or about Armenians. This year, both the number and
quality of productions were up; organizations buzzed with activity;
and one troupe even acquired a theater space. Below, as I review the
year in 12 steps, I begin with "Little Armenia," the play I know
best, since I had the fortune of co-writing it with Lory Bedikian and
Shahe Mankerian.

1. Commissioned and produced by the award-winning Fountain
Theatre, "Little Armenia" was inspired by countless interviews that
we writers conducted in the predominantly immigrant and working-class
section of East Hollywood that bears the name. The result was a work
with three intersecting storylines that cut across generations and
dealt with the struggles of an ethnic community to maintain its
identity, language, and faith amidst financial hardship and the pull
of assimilation. The Los Angeles Times called the play "seminal,"
and thanks to overwhelming community turnout, the production was sold
out from its very first preview. As shows were added to accommodate
demand, "Little Armenia" chalked up 21 performances over its five-
week run.

2. After expending a great deal of effort and suffering
disappointment by some unexpected setbacks, the Armenian Theater
Company leased a space of its own, morphing into the Luna Playhouse.
Energized by its committed core of artists, the company inaugurated
the new space with Lilly Thomassian’s "Thirst," a war drama infused
with mythical elements and fashioned after Greek tragedy. The space
has been bustling ever since, and Luna has already delivered on its
promise to include Armenian-language plays in its repertoire. The
company had earlier proven its ability to handle serious Armenian
drama with its production of "Zhangark" (Twilight). Aghasi
Ayvazyan’s gripping tale, set during the immediate aftermath of
Armenia’s independence when the country was being suffocated by an
economic blockade, was well served by a capable cast and Aramazd
Stepanian’s assured direction.

3. The Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA) added to its list of
impressive accomplishments as it increased its level of activity on
the West Coast to catch up with its record on the East. Aside from
announcing the establishment of a $10,000 annual prize for an
Armenian-themed script, the ADAA organized a series of high-profile
readings, including a private presentation of Oscar-nominated
screenwriter Jose Rivera’s adaptation of the Micheline Aharonian
Marcom novel, "Three Apples Fell from Heaven." Readings at the
Fountain Theatre featured works by a trio of woman playwrights,
including Bianca Bagatourian ("The Scent of Jasmine"), Lisa Kirazian
("The Blackstone Sessions"), and Kristen Lazarian ("Push").

4. The Theater Excursions program of the Armenian Center for the
Arts completed its second full year. The program involves monthly
theater outings for a group of aficionados, usually ranging in number
from 40 to 100. Highlights among this year’s selections included
star turns by Annette Bening in "The Cherry Orchard" at the Mark
Taper Forum and by Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett in "Fences"
at the Pasadena Playhouse. Exclusive talk-backs with directors and
casts followed four of the outings, including "Love’s Labor’s Lost."

5. In an earlier review, I celebrated "Love’s Labor’s Lost" as a
triumphant production, as directed by Simon Abkarian for the Actors’
Gang (at the Ivy Substation). Abkarian, I wrote, made Shakespeare’s
text "bloom into a masterwork of imagination, awash in surreal images
and gorgeous stylized movement, all bathed in luminous light." In
fact, he elevated one of the Bard’s "lesser" comedies "to an
emotionally complex and sexually charged piece of theater."

6. If "Love’s Labor’s Lost" set the standard for the best of
theater, it was matched only by "A Number," Caryl Churchill’s
intriguing take on cloning, at the American Conservatory Theater in
San Francisco. Flawlessly staged by director Anna Shapiro, the
production boasted not only intelligent designs of its sets,
costumes, and sound, but also a vital portrayal by Josh Charles of
three brothers who are as distinct in personality as they are
identical in genetic make-up.
Among the top tier of the year’s productions, director
Randall Arney injected Arthur Miller’s morality play "All My Sons"
(at the Geffen Playhouse) with vibrancy and contemporary relevance.
Laurie Metcalf’s coiled performance as Kate Keller was revelatory and
on par with a luminous Cate Blanchett’s edgy "Hedda Gabler" at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music. Standouts among actors included Laurence
Fishburne, rivetingly intense in "Fences" (Los Angeles); Norbert Leo
Butz, riotously manic in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (New York); and
Rufus Sewell, perfectly nuanced in "Rock ‘n’ Roll" (London).

7. Audiences in Los Angeles were treated to a rare revival of
William Saroyan’s "The Time of Your Life" ~V a lovely mood piece set
against the backdrop of the 1930s. The play had found new life on
regional stages thanks to a stellar production in 2002 by Chicago’s
famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company ~V a production that later traveled
to Seattle and San Francisco. The staging by the Open Fist Theater
Company lacked the technical polish of director Tina Landau’s version
(and her gift for choreographing movement) but nonetheless captured
the essence of Saroyan’s funny, heartbreaking, and redemptive
narrative about the search for a better, decent life during a time
fraught with financial anxiety and fear of war.

8. Eric Bogosian was represented on the boards at least twice this
year. The Hollywood Fight Club’s production of "subUrbia" had little
to recommend it, except for a game group of actors. Far more
accomplished was the Gangbusters Theatre Company’s "Talk Radio,"
which channeled the frenetic energy of Bogosian’s writing into a
captivating performance by Christian Levatino as fictional shock jock
Barry Champlain.

9. Solo performances displayed wide range and included "Black
Angel: The Double Life of Arshile Gorky," in which writer Nouritza
Matossian portrayed the women who were key figures in the artist’s
life. At the opposite end of the spectrum, "Pomegranate Whiskey," a
cabaret by Lory Tatoulian, offered uproarious musical numbers and
monologues, including an inspired bit about a fatigued Statue of
Liberty yearning to return to France. This talented and fearless
performer certainly did not spare the follies of the Armenian
community from her satirical bite, and her medley of children’s songs
set to sultry jazz music was the stuff of comedic gold.

10. Young Armenians claimed the stage in "Verchin Verabroghuh" (The
Last Survivor), an original theatrical presentation on the subject of
the Genocide. This pastiche of vignettes was sometimes sentimental,
often moving, and always treated with due reverence by a well-
rehearsed cast comprised mostly of teenagers.

11. The worst of theater came from an unlikely source at an unlikely
venue, but the only redeeming quality of Sam Shepard’s "The God of
Hell" at the Geffen was its short running time. Neither funny nor
piercing, this political "satire" about a Wisconsin couple visited by
a mysterious salesman (read: government operative) who preaches
patriotism and inflicts torture with equal glee managed to be vapid
and dull, entirely superficial, and altogether exasperating within
the span of a mere 85 minutes.

12. Next year starts with great promise, as award-winning actress
Karen Kondazian reprises her role as Maria Callas in Terrence
McNally’s "Master Class." Kondazian takes the stage at the Lobero
Theater in Santa Barbara on January 4, kick-starting what we can only
hope will be an even more fruitful year for Armenian theater.

All Rights Reserved: Critics’ Forum, 2006

Aram Kouyoumdjian is the winner of Elly Awards for both playwriting
("The Farewells") and directing ("Three Hotels"). His collaborative
script for "Little Armenia" had its world premiere at the Fountain
Theatre in Los Angeles earlier this year.

You can reach him or any of the other contributors to Critics’ Forum
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