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'NIGHT OVER ERZINGA' IS AN ARMENIAN EXPERIENCE BROUGHT TO LIFE ON STAGE
Leslie Katz
San Francisco Examiner
Sept 22 2011
CA
Adriana Sevahn Nichols subtly and poetically draws from her own life
in a "Night Over Erzinga," a heartfelt world premiere presented by
Golden Thread Productions.
The Bay Area troupe, whose mission is to give voice to Middle Eastern
artists, commissioned the play with New York's Lark Play Development
Center and Chicago's Silk Road Theatre Project.
In its first outing, the groups' Middle East America new plays
initiative proves a success.
Deftly mixing history with personal stories, "Night Over Erzinga"
follows several generations of an Armenian-American family (based on
the writer's ancestors) with the main focus on one couple, Ardavazdt
and Alice Oghidanian.
In 1913, young Ardavazdt comes to the U.S. after his family in Armenia
is visited by a brutal Turk on a quest to enlist men of age. He meets
Alice, also Armenian, and they work hard in their new homeland to
raise their young daughter Aghavni.
Flash forward to 1960s New York, where the grown-up Aghavni, who calls
herself Ava, falls in love with Bienvenido, a charismatic singer from
the Dominican Republic - but their life together bears deep scars
from the past, that go back as far as the Armenian genocide after
World War I.
Nichols' clever script (in which the actors portray multiple roles)
mixes chronological and flashback action as it moves the story along
in an appealing, straightforward manner.
Director Hafiz Karmali keeps the versatile group - headed by Brian
Trybom as young Ardavazdt and romantic Benny, and Juliet Tanner as
young Alice and Ava - on track.
Neva Marie Hutchinson whose primary role is the older Alice, who loses
her mind, and Terry Lamb as the older Ardavazdt, also are excellent.
They vividly bring to light the struggles of immigrants lives' and how
their choices resonate for their first-generation American children.
Original music by Penka Kouneva enriches the show's detailed attention
to Armenian traditions. ("Erzinga" refers to the name of a region in
Western Armenia).
On the other hand, a clunky set design of a moving wall and doors,
and basic table-and-chair interior, add little to the proceedings.
Still, it's the heart of the human experience that drives "Night
Over Erzinga," a story familiar not just to Armenians, but to so many
foreigners who journeyed to America in search of a better life.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/2011/09/night-over-erzinga-armenian-experience-brought-life-stage
Leslie Katz
San Francisco Examiner
Sept 22 2011
CA
Adriana Sevahn Nichols subtly and poetically draws from her own life
in a "Night Over Erzinga," a heartfelt world premiere presented by
Golden Thread Productions.
The Bay Area troupe, whose mission is to give voice to Middle Eastern
artists, commissioned the play with New York's Lark Play Development
Center and Chicago's Silk Road Theatre Project.
In its first outing, the groups' Middle East America new plays
initiative proves a success.
Deftly mixing history with personal stories, "Night Over Erzinga"
follows several generations of an Armenian-American family (based on
the writer's ancestors) with the main focus on one couple, Ardavazdt
and Alice Oghidanian.
In 1913, young Ardavazdt comes to the U.S. after his family in Armenia
is visited by a brutal Turk on a quest to enlist men of age. He meets
Alice, also Armenian, and they work hard in their new homeland to
raise their young daughter Aghavni.
Flash forward to 1960s New York, where the grown-up Aghavni, who calls
herself Ava, falls in love with Bienvenido, a charismatic singer from
the Dominican Republic - but their life together bears deep scars
from the past, that go back as far as the Armenian genocide after
World War I.
Nichols' clever script (in which the actors portray multiple roles)
mixes chronological and flashback action as it moves the story along
in an appealing, straightforward manner.
Director Hafiz Karmali keeps the versatile group - headed by Brian
Trybom as young Ardavazdt and romantic Benny, and Juliet Tanner as
young Alice and Ava - on track.
Neva Marie Hutchinson whose primary role is the older Alice, who loses
her mind, and Terry Lamb as the older Ardavazdt, also are excellent.
They vividly bring to light the struggles of immigrants lives' and how
their choices resonate for their first-generation American children.
Original music by Penka Kouneva enriches the show's detailed attention
to Armenian traditions. ("Erzinga" refers to the name of a region in
Western Armenia).
On the other hand, a clunky set design of a moving wall and doors,
and basic table-and-chair interior, add little to the proceedings.
Still, it's the heart of the human experience that drives "Night
Over Erzinga," a story familiar not just to Armenians, but to so many
foreigners who journeyed to America in search of a better life.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/2011/09/night-over-erzinga-armenian-experience-brought-life-stage