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THE CAMEL'S HOMELAND: A WESTERN ARMENIAN PUPPET SHOW IN NEW JERSEY
AZG DAILY
20-07-2011
Some 130 children and adults crowded into the hall of the
Armenian-American Support and Education Center on June 11 to see
an Armenian-language puppet show, "Ughdin Hayrenike" [The Camel's
Homeland], performed by children. The show was organized by Vartan
Garniki's Hye Theater Studio, Armenian Mirror Spectator's June 25
article reports.
Seven young Armenians performed with their puppets a dramatized
Western-Armenian version of a short story by Sergey Vardanian of
Yerevan. Vardanian originally published a set of children's short
stories in Yerevan in 1989 called Arevadzaghig [Sunflower], which
was translated by Makruhi Hagopian and published in Western Armenian
in Istanbul in 1994. Vardanian, today working at the Archaeology
and Ethnology Institute of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, worked
for many years as a journalist and also served from 1991 to 2002 as
the vice president of the State Council on Religious Affairs of the
Republic of Armenia. He has organized a movement to collect folkloric
materials in Armenian schools in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Mountainous Karabagh, Nakhichevan, Abkhazia and Krasnodar (Russia),
which were published in two volumes in 1981 and 2003. He has published
a volume on the twelve historical capitals of Armenia, first in 1985,
and then in an enlarged edition in 1995, and is a specialist on the
Hamshen Armenians of Central Asia and founding editor of the monthly
Dzayn Hamshenakan [Hamshen Voice].
The plot of the play concerns a camel that sets off to find his
homeland and convinces other animals he meets along the way to join
him. When they arrive in the desert, the other animals realize that
this may be an ideal home for the camel but it is too hot and in
general unsuitable for them. They then return to their original homes
with renewed appreciation of their own value. The story can be taken
as a parable for Armenians scattered throughout the world.
Naturally, a show performed by children may not be perfect in all
aspects of its presentation, but in this particular instance, it was
appropriate for the children in the audience, who seemed to enjoy
it greatly. My own two boys eagerly asked when the next performance
would take place. Such plays should be constants in the arsenal of
tools to make Western Armenian relevant to children. Several children
apparently afterwards expressed an interest in participating in
future performances.
The positive effects of the play were not limited to the children in
the audience. Director Vartan Garniki told the audience that some of
the children in the play, who are of varying ages, did not know much
Armenian when they began their rehearsals. In fact, one boy could
only recite his lines and did not understand any Armenian at all.
Garniki has organized similar plays for children for the Khrimian
Lyceum of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). He
established Hye Theater Studio in 2006 and its first performance,
"Honest Person," was performed by children and based on four tales
by Hovhannes Toumanian. Hye Theater Studio has also presented two
plays for adults in Armenian.
Garniki (Oganesian) was born in Yerevan, and inspired by his father,
a well-known reciter and actor, he studied drama at the Theatrical
Institute there. His final project won first prize at the Moscow
Festival of Russian Dramaturgy. Afterwards, he worked as an actor
five years before becoming director of the Alexander Shirvanzade State
Dramatic Theater of Kapan, where he directed over twenty productions
from 1985 to 1992. Garniki established his first puppet theater while
in Kapan in 1988 with his wife and two sons. He and his family moved to
the United States in the early 1990s. In 2002, he joined the Tekeyan
Cultural Association's Mher Megerdichian Theatrical Group and served
as its artistic director for six years. His wife, Anahid Oganesian,
was the stage and puppet designer for "Ughdin Hayrenike."
Garniki works in theater as a labor of love. He exclaimed, "Drama,
I have to do - if I didn't do it, I would not be myself!" To make
a living, he works as a tour guide, showing Russian and Armenian
speakers the sights in New York City, Philadelphia, Atlantic City,
Niagara Falls and elsewhere. He arranged with Armenian military
attache Col. Mesrop Nazarian that any profit from "Ughdin Hayrenike"
will be donated to the children of Armenian soldiers who died in the
struggle for the liberation of Artsakh. Several more performances of
this puppet play are planned for this fall at Armenian schools and
churches in the New York and New Jersey area.
AZG DAILY
20-07-2011
Some 130 children and adults crowded into the hall of the
Armenian-American Support and Education Center on June 11 to see
an Armenian-language puppet show, "Ughdin Hayrenike" [The Camel's
Homeland], performed by children. The show was organized by Vartan
Garniki's Hye Theater Studio, Armenian Mirror Spectator's June 25
article reports.
Seven young Armenians performed with their puppets a dramatized
Western-Armenian version of a short story by Sergey Vardanian of
Yerevan. Vardanian originally published a set of children's short
stories in Yerevan in 1989 called Arevadzaghig [Sunflower], which
was translated by Makruhi Hagopian and published in Western Armenian
in Istanbul in 1994. Vardanian, today working at the Archaeology
and Ethnology Institute of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, worked
for many years as a journalist and also served from 1991 to 2002 as
the vice president of the State Council on Religious Affairs of the
Republic of Armenia. He has organized a movement to collect folkloric
materials in Armenian schools in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Mountainous Karabagh, Nakhichevan, Abkhazia and Krasnodar (Russia),
which were published in two volumes in 1981 and 2003. He has published
a volume on the twelve historical capitals of Armenia, first in 1985,
and then in an enlarged edition in 1995, and is a specialist on the
Hamshen Armenians of Central Asia and founding editor of the monthly
Dzayn Hamshenakan [Hamshen Voice].
The plot of the play concerns a camel that sets off to find his
homeland and convinces other animals he meets along the way to join
him. When they arrive in the desert, the other animals realize that
this may be an ideal home for the camel but it is too hot and in
general unsuitable for them. They then return to their original homes
with renewed appreciation of their own value. The story can be taken
as a parable for Armenians scattered throughout the world.
Naturally, a show performed by children may not be perfect in all
aspects of its presentation, but in this particular instance, it was
appropriate for the children in the audience, who seemed to enjoy
it greatly. My own two boys eagerly asked when the next performance
would take place. Such plays should be constants in the arsenal of
tools to make Western Armenian relevant to children. Several children
apparently afterwards expressed an interest in participating in
future performances.
The positive effects of the play were not limited to the children in
the audience. Director Vartan Garniki told the audience that some of
the children in the play, who are of varying ages, did not know much
Armenian when they began their rehearsals. In fact, one boy could
only recite his lines and did not understand any Armenian at all.
Garniki has organized similar plays for children for the Khrimian
Lyceum of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). He
established Hye Theater Studio in 2006 and its first performance,
"Honest Person," was performed by children and based on four tales
by Hovhannes Toumanian. Hye Theater Studio has also presented two
plays for adults in Armenian.
Garniki (Oganesian) was born in Yerevan, and inspired by his father,
a well-known reciter and actor, he studied drama at the Theatrical
Institute there. His final project won first prize at the Moscow
Festival of Russian Dramaturgy. Afterwards, he worked as an actor
five years before becoming director of the Alexander Shirvanzade State
Dramatic Theater of Kapan, where he directed over twenty productions
from 1985 to 1992. Garniki established his first puppet theater while
in Kapan in 1988 with his wife and two sons. He and his family moved to
the United States in the early 1990s. In 2002, he joined the Tekeyan
Cultural Association's Mher Megerdichian Theatrical Group and served
as its artistic director for six years. His wife, Anahid Oganesian,
was the stage and puppet designer for "Ughdin Hayrenike."
Garniki works in theater as a labor of love. He exclaimed, "Drama,
I have to do - if I didn't do it, I would not be myself!" To make
a living, he works as a tour guide, showing Russian and Armenian
speakers the sights in New York City, Philadelphia, Atlantic City,
Niagara Falls and elsewhere. He arranged with Armenian military
attache Col. Mesrop Nazarian that any profit from "Ughdin Hayrenike"
will be donated to the children of Armenian soldiers who died in the
struggle for the liberation of Artsakh. Several more performances of
this puppet play are planned for this fall at Armenian schools and
churches in the New York and New Jersey area.