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Kelly Stuart Wins ADAA Saroyan Prize

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  • Kelly Stuart Wins ADAA Saroyan Prize

    Kelly Stuart Wins ADAA Saroyan Prize


    http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/01/03/kelly-stuart-wins-adaa-saroyan-prize/
    January 3, 2013


    David Kherdian Receives Armenian Star Award

    LOS ANGELES, Calif. - New York playwright Kelly Stuart won the Armenian
    Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA)'s 3rd Biennial William Saroyan Prize for
    Playwriting for her play, `Belonging to the Sky.' The $10,000 grand
    prize was announced and presented at ADAA's memorable awards event on
    Sat., Dec. 8 at the Pasadena Playhouse.

    `Belonging to the Sky' is a lyrical duet of monologues by Sabiha
    Gokcen (Ataturk's adopted daughter) and assassinated journalist Hrant
    Dink, and their tragic historical connection. Stuart teaches
    playwriting at Columbia University and has traveled nine times to
    Turkey and speaks Turkish.

    `I was haunted by the intersection of these two lives,' says Stuart,
    `so the play is the interwoven monologues of Hrant and Sabiha, both
    confronting their identity and the approach of death in two different
    ways.'

    The other finalists were two-time Saroyan Prize finalist Sevan
    Kaloustian Greene's `Doon,' a dramatic look at four generations of a
    New Jersey Armenian family; and Adriana Sevahn Nichols' `Night Over
    Erzinga,' inspired by her Armenian grandparents' survival of the
    genocide in 1915. All three finalists were present at the event and
    read excerpts from their powerful plays. Many attendees considered
    these readings to be the highlight of the evening.

    `I had never read the text of my play, in public, and there was
    something very potent about speaking my grandmother's words to a room
    full of Armenians. I think, somewhere, in the voices of our
    characters, all of our hearts were joined together,' said Sevahn
    Nichols.

    The prize was awarded by Hank Saroyan, the nephew of William Saroyan
    and the Emmy-winning director of Saroyan's `The Parsley Garden.'
    Before awarding the prize he shared delightful and touching stories
    about his `Uncle Bill,' who was passionate about `the spirit of the
    writer above all else.'

    Television host and entertainment journalist Jill Simonian served as
    the enthusiastic mistress of ceremonies, engaging the audience
    throughout the evening and recalling how ADAA has helped her connect
    with other Armenians in the industry.

    Author David Kherdian received ADAA's 2012 Armenian Star Award for his
    outstanding writing career as a poet, novelist, and memoirist. As he
    was unable to attend, Kherdian's friend and colleague, novelist Aris
    Janigian (This Angelic Land), accepted the award on Kherdian's behalf
    and presented a moving tribute to the author, who began as a poet and
    was mentored by William Saroyan in his early career, and has since
    seen his numerous works of fiction and nonfiction translated into 14
    languages, including his bestselling memoir of his mother, The Road
    >From Home. Gomidas Press will publish Kherdian's retelling of David of
    Sassoun in February 2013.

    Some of the industry's finest Armenian-American actors were also in
    attendance, including Ken Davitian (`The Artist') and Hrach Titizian
    (Showtime's `Homeland'). ADAA Founder Bianca Bagatourian talked about
    ADAA's array of recent activities. Other key ADAA artists in the
    audience were Ovation Award-winning director Michael Arabian, actress
    Karen Kondazian, director Michael Peretzian, Fountain Theater artistic
    director Simon Levy, and Pasadena Playhouse artistic director Sheldon
    Epps.

    The winner was selected by this year's Honorary Jury of renowned
    theater artists: playwright Catherine Filloux (`Dog and Wolf'),
    playwright/screenwriter Eduardo Machado (`Floating Islands:), and
    artistic director/actress Gates McFadden (`Star Trek').

    Stuart's journey to write the play is compelling. `While traveling in
    Turkey I visited the archive of a historian who told me a story I
    couldn't get out of my head...about an Armenian girl named Hatun, who
    was left in an orphanage with her sister in the aftermath of the
    genocide. Ataturk came to the orphanage and saw this very pretty
    little girl, and took her away to adopt her. This girl became `Sabiha
    Gokcen,' the icon of Turkish womanhood, her Armenian identity
    `cleaned' and erased.' Some consider Hrant Dink's treatment of this
    topic in the Agosnewspaper as the event that possibly led to his own
    tragedy, hence Stuart's exploration of them both.

    ADAA's William Saroyan Prize for Playwriting, for plays on Armenian
    themes, is made possible by a grant from the William Saroyan
    Foundation, with additional funding from Gagosian Galleries.

    The next biennial Saroyan Prize deadline will be April 1, 2014. Next
    year, ADAA will sponsor the Paul Screenwriting Awards for screenplays
    on Armenian themes, with a deadline of April 1, 2013.

    ADAA's mission is to project the Armenian voice on the world stage
    through the arts of theater and film. It accomplishes this through two
    writing contests, playreadings, the Boston Armenian Film Festival,
    various networking events, and the pre-eminent Armenian performing
    arts website in the world, www.armeniandrama.org.

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