Baron Berberian Strikes Again with Another Winner!

After a somewhat disappointing experience at the Hamazkayin Mosaic-II concert I was looking forward to seeing Vahe Berberian's latest production Baron Garbis. I've always enjoyed Vahe's plays and stand up comedy routines so I knew I would probably love this play.

The play is very well written. The plot was easy to follow, the message the story was conveying came in loud and clear but in a fairly subtle way. The dialogue between the characters was rich and full of clever and witty discourse. There were only 3 characters but I didn't even realize it until intermission because it was so engaging and entertaining. The characters were so very well developed that I didn't feel the play needed any more characters. The main character, Baron Garbis, was the epitome of the typical Lebanese-Armenian from Bourjhammoud and his manner of speech and disposition on life were a dead on representation of the demographic he symbolized. The humor was very ethnocentric to the Lebanese-Armenian community which I didn't have a problem with since in fact, I found myself laughing almost constantly. However, at intermission I overheard some Persian-Armenians a few rows ahead who were discussing the fact that they didn't get some of the jokes and slang. I guess if it were the other way around and the play had been about a man from Tehran or Isvahan Arevmdahyes wouldn't have been able to relate to everything either. Regardless I could tell at the end of the play that they had enjoyed it.

This play was long overdue...I commend and thank Vahe Berberian for all his hard work. I can't even imagine what a complicated feat it was to not only write this play but to produce it, direct it and execute it night after night. It seems like a lot of hard work and it was nice to see that people were responding and coming out night after night to support his efforts.

A few weeks ago my cousins and I went to see Armen Movisisyan perform at the Barnsdall Theatre and although the place wasn't packed it was nice to see members of our community out on a Sunday evening doing something cultural. Sometimes it's nice to know that there are similar options in the form of plays and concerts that give Armenian families the opportunity to get out of the house on random nights of the week and partake in an Armenian cultural event.

The play Baron Garbis has been such a success that Vahe Berberian recently announced that he will be extending its run. Since there are two different casts performing the play my assumption is that everyone wants to see it a second time with the alternate cast. I know I am!

Serge has a blog!

I just found out about this through the Armenian Observer blog -

serzhsargsyan.livejournal.com

That's right, the president-elect has a trilingual forum of sorts. Let him know what you think. The page warns, however, that "questions with insult and rhetoric speech will not be accepted". So, if you feel like it, try to get more than one insult in there, and don't put it rhetorically.

Or, seriously, just ask a question. Some of them up already are worth going through.

A Vahe Berberian Production

After a somewhat disappointing experience at the Hamazkayin Mosaic-II concert I was looking forward to seeing Vahe Berberian's latest production Baron Garbis. I've always enjoyed Vahe's plays and stand up comedy routines so I knew I would probably love this play.

The play is very well written. The plot was easy to follow, the message the story was conveying came in loud and clear but in a fairly subtle way. The dialogue between the characters was rich and full of clever and witty discourse. There were only 3 characters but I didn't even realize it until intermission because it was so engaging and entertaining. The characters were so very well developed that I didn't feel the play needed any more characters. The main character, Baron Garbis, was the epitome of the typical Lebanese-Armenian from Bourjhammoud and his manner of speech and disposition on life were a dead on representation of the demographic he symbolized. The humor was very ethnocentric to the Lebanese-Armenian community which I didn't have a problem with since in fact, I found myself laughing almost constantly. However, at intermission I overheard some Persian-Armenians a few rows ahead who were discussing the fact that they didn't get some of the jokes and slang. I guess if it were the other way around and the play had been about a man from Tehran or Isvahan Arevmdahyes wouldn't have been able to relate to everything either. Regardless I could tell at the end of the play that they had enjoyed it.

This play was long overdue...I commend and thank Vahe Berberian for all his hard work. I can't even imagine what a complicated feat it was to not only write this play but to produce it, direct it and execute it night after night. It seems like a lot of hard work and it was nice to see that people were responding and coming out night after night to support his efforts.

A few weeks ago my cousins and I went to see Armen Movisisyan perform at the Barnsdall Theatre and although the place wasn't packed it was nice to see members of our community out on a Sunday evening doing something cultural. Sometimes it's nice to know that there are similar options in the form of plays and concerts that give Armenian families the opportunity to get out of the house on random nights of the week and partake in an Armenian cultural event.

The play Baron Garbis has been such a success that Vahe Berberian recently announced that he will be extending its run. Since there are two different casts performing the play my assumption is that everyone wants to see it a second time with the alternate cast. I know I am!

On what's going on in Armenia...

I wrote this as a Facebook note after the protests at the Opera were dispersed, but before the events of that same evening. I got a few responses, so I thought I'd share it with the world at large.

I have to let off some thoughts and feelings on the latest goings-on in the Homeland.

Of course the presidential elections were rigged. Who is surprised? When was the last time we had a truly free and fair election in Armenia? Even the most advanced representative democracies in the world have flaws - technical or otherwise - in their electoral processes, but in our case, to be sure, it was rigged outright, plain and simple, in Serge's favour.

Levon is in the picture, and his support base is apparently strong. What is the matter here? Sure, he was the leader, the forefront of independence from the Soviet Union, but surely everyone remembers his time in office, especially his very rigged re-election in 1996. Tanks came out on the streets then. This morning's occurrence in Yerevan was khaydarag all right, but there weren't any tanks... Not that it matters. The question remains: don't people remember what sort of president Levon was?

Okay, let's say they don't. That's one option. Let's say they do, and he knows they do, and, since September 21st last year, he's convinced the populace that he's reformed, changed for the better, and people are willing to believe him, and/or give him another chance. That's the second option.

On the third hand, maybe people simply wish to use him as a tool to get rid of Serge and Robert, and maybe Levon would like to be that tool. But to what end? There is absolutely no guarantee of a better replacement. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Of course, no-one can determine what "the people" think or want; it's probably a mixture of all that I listed above, both among different individuals, and probably within individuals as well.

Regardless of what happens, however, and as a friend of mine indicated to me, this is setting an example, a precedent. The people of Armenia don't want to be messed with or fooled anymore. The next time somebody wants to try something like this, he will think twice, whether he is Levon or Serge.

But Serge will probably win, so that will sort of null that point. If he does become president, though, his legitimacy will be very low indeed, especially after what happened this morning, which was to be expected. His legitimacy will be even lower than the usual sceptical approach people have to those in power in Yerevan.

Miracles have been known to happen. How about a few at a time? Get rid of the corrupt regime, put in place a more sincere regime, lawfully and legitimately change that administration for a new one, just as sincere, in five years... Three miracles in one go? Why not, why not...?