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PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Over 4,000 People Attend AGBU Ardavazt Theater’s "Who Is My Father?"
Performances
The AGBU Ardavazt Theater Company of Southern California presented the
two-act comedy "Who Is My Father?" at Pasadena’s AGBU Alex Manoogian
Center for eleven performances between February 7 and March 15, 2009,
with an average attendance of 300 per performance. The production’s
success created the need for additional presentations on May 9 and 10,
and an encore performance was presented weeks later for the Montreal
community at the city’s AGBU Center on May 23.
The impetus for Ardavazt’s latest production began in 2003, when
Ardavazt enjoyed great success with an Armenian production of "Yergu
Gnig, Meg Erig" (Two Wives, One Husband) by British dramatist Ray
Cooney. This prompted Ardavazt director Krikor Satamian to translate
another Cooney play, "It Runs in the Family," which he adapted to
contemporary California-Armenian life, making it more immediate and
comical, and in the process changed its name to "Who Is My Father?"
The setting of this fast-moving farce, full of twists and turns, is the
doctors’ lounge of Glendale’s St. Matthew Hospital, where preparations
are being made for Christmas celebrations. The main event is an
international medical convention, at which Dr. David Ezajian is the
principal speaker. Suddenly, Hasmig Sarian, a former head nurse at the
hospital, appears and announces that Dr. Ezajian is the father of her
18-year-old son, named Sevag. Dr. Ezajian becomes flustered over this
unexpected news, particularly since his newly discovered son is arrested
by the police while driving without a license. A truly comical
atmosphere is created in this chaotic situation, as one lie after
another is revealed.
An instant classic, the Armenian-language production has garnered
critical acclaim from Armenian publications across California and
Montreal, including Kevork Bedigian for Asbarez (February 26, 2009),
D.A. Vanadour for Massis (February 28, 2009), Sarkis Majarian for Nor
Hayastan (March 6, 2009), Khachig Janoyan for Nor Or (March 7, 2009), K.
Dertadian Kouyoumdjian for Abaka (June 22, 2009) and an anonymous review
in Nor Gyank (March 12, 2009).
Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually serving some
400,000 Armenians on six continents.