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HERAND MARKARIAN'S 'SILENCE' SPEAKS LOUD AND CLEAR ABOUT GENOCIDE
By George Maksian
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/05/22/herand-markarians-silence-speaks-loud-and-clear-about-genocide/
May 22, 2012
Lorraine Serabian Excels in Powerful Off-Broadway Drama
Over the past several decades, Herand Markarian has had such a wide
and varied career as an actor, playwright, director, and poet. You
name it, he has done it.
I urge everyone to make every effort to see it. Hopefully, there will
be a road tour after its New York run on May 24.
It would be hard for me to select just one of his many works as my
personal all-time favorite experience.
That is, until Fri., May 4, when I attended the opening night
performance of his latest play, "Silence," which is being presented
at the Off-Broadway Shell Theater on West 43rd Street in Manhattan,
as a Libra-6 production through the end of May.
The play, commissioned by the New York State Theater Institute, is a
powerful, well-produced and executed drama worthy of huge accolades and
honors. It blew me away for its professionalism and expert performances
by an outstanding cast of characters. The story itself is riveting.
It is set in the ancestral Armenian city of Van in Turkey before,
during, and after the Armenian Genocide in 1915, which resulted in the
annihilation of more than 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.
Most of the action of the play takes place in the luxurious home of
an Armenian family in that city (designed by Kyle Dixon). The home
is eventually confiscated by the Turks.
The play tells the heart-wrenching story of a relentless Armenian
American woman's search for her long-lost son who was caught up in
the genocide.
The tour-de-force role of the mother is played by the Tony-nominated
actress-singer Lorraine Serabian ("Zorba," "Maria Callas in Master
Class," and so many other Broadway shows).
Serabian plays the role with such skill and perfection, I can't
imagine any other actress filling the role as well as she does. Brava.
Her Armenian husband in the play, portrayed by David Farrington, is
a doctor accused of treason and executed in Van on April 24, 1915,
the start of the Turkish massacres.
Her son, portrayed by Andrew Raia, along with 250 Armenian children,
are slated to be burned inside a building, but a Turkish doctor-friend
of the Armenian doctor saves some of the children, including possibly
the missing boy.
Being American by birth, the mother is able to escape the massacres
and return to the States where she becomes an ophthalmologist. Several
years later, she returns to her ancestral homeland in search of her
son. She is helped in the search by the Turkish doctor, played ably
by Todd Licea.
Ironically, the doctor's father, played superbly by veteran stage actor
Charles Karel (Met Opera, "Zorba," "Hello, Dolly," etc.), is seen as
an evil Turkish Nazi-like Gestapo who hounds the Armenian family.
He plays the role so well that after the show, I approached him and
shouted, "I hate you!" And he shouted back, "That's what we villains
like to hear."
The two-hour-plus drama moves along very swiftly, thanks in large
part to the excellent work by its director, Kevin Thompson. The
background music by Josh Millican is hauntingly heard; the massacre
scenes are extraordinarily seen behind a meshed screen curtain. Kudos
to the costume designer, Christina Giannini, for wonderful wardrobe
selections. The mother's outfits fit the period perfectly. Other
production credits go to Iris Checkenian, dramaturge; John Eckert,
lighting design; Aime Minassian, make-up; John Cooper, production
manager; and Rebecca Perlman, stage manager.
Congrats to one and all and especially to playwright Herand Markarian
for a job so well done. I urge everyone to make every effort to see
it. Hopefully, there will be a road tour after its New York run on
May 24.
All proceeds from the play go to aid the schools of Border Villages
in Armenia.
For ticket and other information, visit SmartTix.com or call (212)
868-4444.
George Maksian is a former TV columnist for the Daily News in New York.
From: A. Papazian
By George Maksian
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/05/22/herand-markarians-silence-speaks-loud-and-clear-about-genocide/
May 22, 2012
Lorraine Serabian Excels in Powerful Off-Broadway Drama
Over the past several decades, Herand Markarian has had such a wide
and varied career as an actor, playwright, director, and poet. You
name it, he has done it.
I urge everyone to make every effort to see it. Hopefully, there will
be a road tour after its New York run on May 24.
It would be hard for me to select just one of his many works as my
personal all-time favorite experience.
That is, until Fri., May 4, when I attended the opening night
performance of his latest play, "Silence," which is being presented
at the Off-Broadway Shell Theater on West 43rd Street in Manhattan,
as a Libra-6 production through the end of May.
The play, commissioned by the New York State Theater Institute, is a
powerful, well-produced and executed drama worthy of huge accolades and
honors. It blew me away for its professionalism and expert performances
by an outstanding cast of characters. The story itself is riveting.
It is set in the ancestral Armenian city of Van in Turkey before,
during, and after the Armenian Genocide in 1915, which resulted in the
annihilation of more than 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.
Most of the action of the play takes place in the luxurious home of
an Armenian family in that city (designed by Kyle Dixon). The home
is eventually confiscated by the Turks.
The play tells the heart-wrenching story of a relentless Armenian
American woman's search for her long-lost son who was caught up in
the genocide.
The tour-de-force role of the mother is played by the Tony-nominated
actress-singer Lorraine Serabian ("Zorba," "Maria Callas in Master
Class," and so many other Broadway shows).
Serabian plays the role with such skill and perfection, I can't
imagine any other actress filling the role as well as she does. Brava.
Her Armenian husband in the play, portrayed by David Farrington, is
a doctor accused of treason and executed in Van on April 24, 1915,
the start of the Turkish massacres.
Her son, portrayed by Andrew Raia, along with 250 Armenian children,
are slated to be burned inside a building, but a Turkish doctor-friend
of the Armenian doctor saves some of the children, including possibly
the missing boy.
Being American by birth, the mother is able to escape the massacres
and return to the States where she becomes an ophthalmologist. Several
years later, she returns to her ancestral homeland in search of her
son. She is helped in the search by the Turkish doctor, played ably
by Todd Licea.
Ironically, the doctor's father, played superbly by veteran stage actor
Charles Karel (Met Opera, "Zorba," "Hello, Dolly," etc.), is seen as
an evil Turkish Nazi-like Gestapo who hounds the Armenian family.
He plays the role so well that after the show, I approached him and
shouted, "I hate you!" And he shouted back, "That's what we villains
like to hear."
The two-hour-plus drama moves along very swiftly, thanks in large
part to the excellent work by its director, Kevin Thompson. The
background music by Josh Millican is hauntingly heard; the massacre
scenes are extraordinarily seen behind a meshed screen curtain. Kudos
to the costume designer, Christina Giannini, for wonderful wardrobe
selections. The mother's outfits fit the period perfectly. Other
production credits go to Iris Checkenian, dramaturge; John Eckert,
lighting design; Aime Minassian, make-up; John Cooper, production
manager; and Rebecca Perlman, stage manager.
Congrats to one and all and especially to playwright Herand Markarian
for a job so well done. I urge everyone to make every effort to see
it. Hopefully, there will be a road tour after its New York run on
May 24.
All proceeds from the play go to aid the schools of Border Villages
in Armenia.
For ticket and other information, visit SmartTix.com or call (212)
868-4444.
George Maksian is a former TV columnist for the Daily News in New York.
From: A. Papazian