Staging the Un-stageable

One hundred years after the Armenian Genocide and over half a century since the Holocaust, some governments are making renewed efforts to whitewash their histories. In this climate, theatre has a particular responsibility to ensure that communities around the world will never forget historical sins. But how can a theatre maker bring such trauma to the stage? Who will want to watch? Who will be changed? 

To explore these questions Center Theatre Group, in partnership with the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance, will present a reading of excerpts from three remarkable new plays by Leslie Ayvazian, Sevan Kaloustian Greene and Neil McPherson that dramatize the Armenian Genocide in different ways. The performance will be followed by a panel discussion with notable guests from the Armenian community and with Los Angeles theatre artists who in their work have grappled with the enormous responsibility of bringing historical tragedies to the stage.