AZG Armenian Daily #045, 08/03/2008
NEW YORK CITY PLAY "KILLING THE BOSS" TAKES ARMENIAN
COMMUNITY ACTIVIST BY STORM
March 4, 2008
New York, NY- The Armenian National Committee of New
York took the Armenian Cause to Off-Broadway last week
at Cherry Lane Studio Theatre in Greenwhich Village. A
largely Armenian audience packed the house to see
Catherine Filloux’s Killing the Boss on February 23rd,
which was immediately followed by a short panel
discussion, "Through the Politics of Power:
Considering the Legacy of the Armenian Genocide."
The panelists were ANC Eastern Regional Executive
Director Karine Birazian and anthropology scholar
Sossi Essajanian. Filloux’s drama provided rich
material for the panelists and audience to ponder. Two
years ago, the ANC of New York sponsored a similar
panel following Filloux’s Lemkin’s House, which
presented Raphael Lemkin beyond his death considering
the United Nations Genocide Convention in light of the
genocides that have been committed with impunity
since.
While genocide was not as central a theme in Killing
the Boss, the issue still loomed large as the main
character in righteous indignation attempted to
assassinate the prime minister of a country, where he
had previously been an architect of genocide. Cambodia
quickly came to mind, but the location was never
identified, leaving the viewer to imagine that the
scenario of mass killing could have taken place in
many nations, as indeed it has.
In reflecting on the performance, Essajanian discussed
how the politics of the intimate became the
transformative mechanism for overcoming the seemingly
unstoppable evil of the regime portrayed in the play.
"It was the concern and love of the main character’s
husband and parents, who needed to find out what
happened and not allow the distorted narrative of
those in power to control the truth as well."
Birazian connected the play to the Armenian case of
genocide. "The government of Turkey continues to
engage in the last stage of genocide through its
denial of what happened. Righteous communities must
remain active and continue to resist the perpetrator’s
campaign, whether it be in Darfur or in Cambodia or in
Van, of falsely appropriating the history of the
people they have tried to annihilate."
Doug Geogerian of the ANC of New York thanked the
playwright for her compelling work and for the
opportunity to hold the subsequent panel discussion.
"Dramatic art is a powerful way for the public to
learn about the issue of genocide, which the media
often presents as a Gordian Knot of geopolitics. Here
we see in a visceral way how individual lives are
impacted. It allows us to reflect and hopefully, to
take future action."
The ANC of NY will also be hosting a panel discussion
on April 11th at 6:30 pm with the Middle East & Middle
Eastern American Center. The panel discussion entitled
Trauma and Memoir will feature authors Anotnia Arslan,
Margaret Ahnert, and playwright Catherine Filloux. The
event will be held at the CUNY Grad Center, 365 Fifth
Ave., NY, NY in rooms 9204/5. For more information
email [email protected].
Karine Birazian Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region Executive Director