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GOLDEN THREAD THEATER TO PREMIERE PLAY ON GENOCIDE EXPERIENCE
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2011/08/19/golden-thread-theater-to-premiere-play-on-genocide-experience/
Posted on August 19, 2011 by Editor
Actors in a scene from "Night in Erzinga" SAN FRANCISCO - Golden Thread
Productions announces the world premiere of "Night over Erzinga," a
powerful and soul-stirring play by award-winning playwright and actor
Adriana Sevahn Nichols. Sevahn Nichols is the first recipient of the
Middle East America: a National New Plays Initiative, a commissioning
project founded and managed by three national organizations: the Bay
Area's Golden Thread Productions, New York's Lark Play Development
Center and Chicago's Silk Road Theatre Project.
Sevahn Nichols' "Night over Erzinga" is a moving story about the
immigrant experience in the US and the endurance of the human spirit.
The central characters, Ardavazt and Alice, build a new life in the
US in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide but the past comes to
haunt them in very different ways. Inspired by Nichols' personal
heritage as a Dominican- Armenian-American, this story explores how
a man can lose two families in one lifetime, but not lose his heart;
and how a grandmother can reach through time, to unearth the untold
story and bring her children "home."
This tender epic spans two continents and three generations, from
Western Armenia of 1913, to 1930s Massachusetts, to 1960s New York.
The magical story reunites ancestors with the living, as they each
search for solace and a way to make peace with the past. Nichols'
poetic and comic language incorporates the world of symbols and icons,
spirits and the invisible, along with the everyday concerns of survival
and keeping a family together.
The playwright's Armenian grandparents immigrated to the United States
from Erzinga and Shabin- Karahisar (part of Turkish Armenia) in the
aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Nichols' grandfather,
Ardavazt Oghidanian, was the sole survivor of his family. Nichols'
reflection on her grandfather's experience launched a three-year
journey to develop "Night over Erzinga."
Nichols described the play's origin as a way "...to discover my roots;
to write my way home. To ancestors I never knew, but feel in my heart.
And to find a way to belong to a history and legacy that, up until
that point, in my life, was missing. As a writer, I feel called to
tell the stories that will inspire, move and enrich people's hearts.
We are all on a collective journey, as a global family, and I believe
theatre, at its best, has the potential to initiate transformation
and healing. Although the play I have written is deeply personal
and specific to the Armenians, it has been my intention that this
play transcends that specificity and become universal in creating
dialogues among those who see it?"
Torange Yeghiazarian, Golden Thread Productions' artistic director,
adds "'Night over Erzinga' is a courageous play that brings together
the Armenian and Latino communities. Adriana's unique voice and rich
language is a welcome new addition to the cannon of American theater
and Golden Thread is proud to introduce this important new play and
playwright to Bay Area audiences."
During its development, "Night over Erzinga" had two
enthusiastically-received public readings in New York and San
Francisco. Sevahn Nichols is an award-winning actress and playwright
who has developed and performed her work at the Sundance Theater Lab,
South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, The Goodman, LA Theatre Works,
Stages Theatre, The Fountain, INTAR and The Lark. Her plays have
been published by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus. Sevahn Nichols'
critically acclaimed solo show, "Taking Flight," garnered her a San
Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award, a Los Angeles Women's Theatre
Festival Award, and the CD was a finalist for a 2008 Audie Award.
"Night over Erzinga" is scored with original music by Bulgarian
composer, Penka Kouneva and directed by Hafiz Karmali. Karmali is an
accomplished theater director familiar to Golden Thread audiences. He
directed three new plays at the ReOrient Festival in 2009: "Abaga"
by Yeghiazarian; "A Marriage Proposal" (Egyptian Chekhov) and "The
Review" (via skype) both by Yussef El-Guindi and in 2006, the Ikhwan
al-Safa's fable, "Island of Animals."
Prior to working with Golden Thread, Karmali was a teaching fellow
at Harvard University, directed plays in London and served an
apprenticeship at the American Repertory Theatre where he assisted
internationally renowned directors Robert Wilson and Andrei Serban.
Golden Thread Productions is a nationally recognized non-profit
organization acknowledged as the leading theater company devoted to
Middle Eastern voices and experiences. Founded in 1996 by Yeghiazarian,
Golden Thread's mission, to give voice to Middle Eastern writers,
is made more urgent and vital with all that is currently happening
in the Middle East.
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2011/08/19/golden-thread-theater-to-premiere-play-on-genocide-experience/
Posted on August 19, 2011 by Editor
Actors in a scene from "Night in Erzinga" SAN FRANCISCO - Golden Thread
Productions announces the world premiere of "Night over Erzinga," a
powerful and soul-stirring play by award-winning playwright and actor
Adriana Sevahn Nichols. Sevahn Nichols is the first recipient of the
Middle East America: a National New Plays Initiative, a commissioning
project founded and managed by three national organizations: the Bay
Area's Golden Thread Productions, New York's Lark Play Development
Center and Chicago's Silk Road Theatre Project.
Sevahn Nichols' "Night over Erzinga" is a moving story about the
immigrant experience in the US and the endurance of the human spirit.
The central characters, Ardavazt and Alice, build a new life in the
US in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide but the past comes to
haunt them in very different ways. Inspired by Nichols' personal
heritage as a Dominican- Armenian-American, this story explores how
a man can lose two families in one lifetime, but not lose his heart;
and how a grandmother can reach through time, to unearth the untold
story and bring her children "home."
This tender epic spans two continents and three generations, from
Western Armenia of 1913, to 1930s Massachusetts, to 1960s New York.
The magical story reunites ancestors with the living, as they each
search for solace and a way to make peace with the past. Nichols'
poetic and comic language incorporates the world of symbols and icons,
spirits and the invisible, along with the everyday concerns of survival
and keeping a family together.
The playwright's Armenian grandparents immigrated to the United States
from Erzinga and Shabin- Karahisar (part of Turkish Armenia) in the
aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Nichols' grandfather,
Ardavazt Oghidanian, was the sole survivor of his family. Nichols'
reflection on her grandfather's experience launched a three-year
journey to develop "Night over Erzinga."
Nichols described the play's origin as a way "...to discover my roots;
to write my way home. To ancestors I never knew, but feel in my heart.
And to find a way to belong to a history and legacy that, up until
that point, in my life, was missing. As a writer, I feel called to
tell the stories that will inspire, move and enrich people's hearts.
We are all on a collective journey, as a global family, and I believe
theatre, at its best, has the potential to initiate transformation
and healing. Although the play I have written is deeply personal
and specific to the Armenians, it has been my intention that this
play transcends that specificity and become universal in creating
dialogues among those who see it?"
Torange Yeghiazarian, Golden Thread Productions' artistic director,
adds "'Night over Erzinga' is a courageous play that brings together
the Armenian and Latino communities. Adriana's unique voice and rich
language is a welcome new addition to the cannon of American theater
and Golden Thread is proud to introduce this important new play and
playwright to Bay Area audiences."
During its development, "Night over Erzinga" had two
enthusiastically-received public readings in New York and San
Francisco. Sevahn Nichols is an award-winning actress and playwright
who has developed and performed her work at the Sundance Theater Lab,
South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, The Goodman, LA Theatre Works,
Stages Theatre, The Fountain, INTAR and The Lark. Her plays have
been published by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus. Sevahn Nichols'
critically acclaimed solo show, "Taking Flight," garnered her a San
Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award, a Los Angeles Women's Theatre
Festival Award, and the CD was a finalist for a 2008 Audie Award.
"Night over Erzinga" is scored with original music by Bulgarian
composer, Penka Kouneva and directed by Hafiz Karmali. Karmali is an
accomplished theater director familiar to Golden Thread audiences. He
directed three new plays at the ReOrient Festival in 2009: "Abaga"
by Yeghiazarian; "A Marriage Proposal" (Egyptian Chekhov) and "The
Review" (via skype) both by Yussef El-Guindi and in 2006, the Ikhwan
al-Safa's fable, "Island of Animals."
Prior to working with Golden Thread, Karmali was a teaching fellow
at Harvard University, directed plays in London and served an
apprenticeship at the American Repertory Theatre where he assisted
internationally renowned directors Robert Wilson and Andrei Serban.
Golden Thread Productions is a nationally recognized non-profit
organization acknowledged as the leading theater company devoted to
Middle Eastern voices and experiences. Founded in 1996 by Yeghiazarian,
Golden Thread's mission, to give voice to Middle Eastern writers,
is made more urgent and vital with all that is currently happening
in the Middle East.