Faran Tahir & Vilma Silva - Actor's Theater of
Louisville,
Humana Festival - Photographer : Ricchard C. Trigg
|
-
Los Angeles Times
Friday September 1, 2000 - www.calendarlive.com - Jana J. Monji
- Poignant Reminder at Heart of 'Beast'
When the Turks witnessed the 1893 lunar eclipse, they shot at the
"wild beast" covering the moon. Two years later, they shot at their
neighbors, the predominantly Christian Armenians.
Richard Kalinoski's drama "Beast on the Moon," at the Fountain Theatre,
follows two Armenian immigrants adjusting to life in Milwaukee in
1921. Anna Der Nersesian as Seta, the young picture bride, beguiles
as a frightened child-grateful to be alive, yet afraid of her photographer
husband, Aram Tomasian (Michael Gabriel Goodfriend), whom she married
by proxy. Goodfriend brings a kindly, controlled intensity to Aram.
The chemistry between the two creates an electric, palpable atmosphere
of trauma, dangerously exposed by frayed nerves and barely submerged
memories.
As the narrator, Buck Kartalian adds a humorous light touch that doesn't
always fit into the flow of the production. Franck Beaulieu (who alternates
with GianCarlo Canale) is only adequate as the young orphan who wins
a place in the Tomasian family. Goodfriend's proficiency with a large
format camera isn't always convincing, but this is a minor complaint.
Aided by Haig Yazdjian's recorded musical compositions, Edwin Gerard
Hamamdjian's direction moves the action well, and his transitions
mostly smooth over the script's brief and slender time- passing scenes.
From Jeanne Keith's subtle costume design to John Patrick's set design
to Anne Vardanian's dialect coaching, this beautifully detailed production
is a poignant reminder of a little-known genocide-and the hope and
refuge that the United States has only sometimes been able to provide.
|
- 24
heures [Switzerland]
"...a jewel of humanity...beautiful and moving."
- Time
Out [London]
"...quiet...compelling way...a seriously thoughtful piece of theatre."
- Toronto
Sun
"...powerful story about humanity and inhumanity... speaks to all
of us."
- Lexington
Herald Leader [Kentucky]
"...easily one of the finest plays written in the past couple of
decades."
- NY
Times
"...most completely to engage its audience, which gave it a standing
ovation."
- Louisville
Courrier Journal
"...builds with such tension and heartbreak, celebrates the gift
of life with wisdom and power."
- Chicago
Sun-Times
"...a work of all-too-rare humanity and impressive maturity."
|
-
-
The early-20th-century Armenian genocide at the
hands of Turkey forms the backdrop of Richard Kalinoski's parable.
In 1921 Milwaukee, the specter of those horrific events haunts Aram
Tomasian (Michael Gabriel Goodfriend) and his newly arrived Armenian
"picture bride," 15-year-old Seta (Anna Der Nersesian), both orphaned
by the slaughter. Aram's obsession with creating a replacement family
for the one he lost lays a heavy burden on Seta as she endures her
husband's constant and unsuccessful efforts to impregnate her. The
consequent emotional gulf widens over the years, threatening their
already tenuous marriage, until Vincent (Franck Beaulieu), a young
street urchin, enters their lives and offers hope for redemption.
Director Edwin Gerard Hamamdjian molds rich and textured performances
from his leads. Goodfriend is excellent as the authoritarian, Bible-quoting
Aram, as is Der Nersesian, who ages believably from a giddy yet
vulnerable child to a self-possessed young woman. Filling out the
cast is Buck Kartalian as The Gentleman, a present-day narrator
with an intriguing secret.
-
Martín Hernández
|
- Fountain Theatre's staging of Richard Kalinoski's Beast an the Moon
was another opening of special significance. It was directed by Edwin
Gerard-Hamamdjian, known as Edwin Gerard when he directed Moliere'sThe
Misanthrope at the Court Theatre in1987 as Deborah Lawlor's first
production for the Barbara Culver Foundation, named for her mother.
The Court Theatre is now the Fountain Theatre.
Gerard's inventive, creative, auteur direction of the Moliere classic
remains a delight in memory; and I was pleased that his directorial
touch has not lost its magic. Director Hamamdjian (his true surname)
is also a writer, and an actor of stage, film, and television, who
now lives in Paris and is artis- tic director of its Compagnie la
Stoa theatre ensemble. Beast on the Moon's theme, the massacre of
the Armenian people in the. 20th century's first genocide, has special
meaning for him.
During an intensely emotional scene in Beast an the Moon. Aram recalls
his escape from the Turks, dressed as a girl "My grandfather also
escaped to Istanbul dressed as a girl, hidden under a pile of dirty
linen in a laundry basket. He had seen his family killed before his
eyes," Hamamdjian told me during a conversation in the Fountain Theatre
lobby. "My aunt was four years old when she was thrown into the desert
alone, to live or die." Hamamdjian dedicates his work on this play
to his grandfather, Armenak Hamamdjian, and to his aunt, Araxi Khachigian,
who, like the play's Aram and Seta, were orphaned by the Turkish holocaust.
No wonder this staging resonates with special truth and urgency.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
