While the Armenian Genocide occurred a century ago, descendants of victims are still grappling with the consequences of this historic calamity and what the hundred year mark means to them and to the future of the Armenian nation and diaspora.

These issues are explored in the play, “From Sacred Wrath,” which will be performed on April 18, 2015 and April 19, 2015 at The Davenport Theatre in New York City.

The story centers around the Armenian-American Khatchadourian family, who shares mixed emotions as the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide approaches: a grandmother who is unable to share her story of survival, as she is still traumatized by her escape; a young woman who forges ties to a Turkish journalist much to the chagrin of her patriotic father, and a brother, who vows to fight for the future of his homeland by enlisting in the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army.

This timely play, written and directed by Taleen Babayan, reflects the various outlooks and struggles facing Armenians around the world today as the centennial of the Armenian Genocide approaches. The themes of denial, nationalism, reconciliation, and human rights abuses are explored and come to life on stage through the talented cast of diverse and professional actors, including Karnig Nercessian, playing the role of Hovsep, the patriotic patriarch of the family, Constance Cooper, playing the role of Aghavni, an Armenian Genocide survivor, Ani Djirdjirian, playing the role of Areni, a history teacher who has a more modern outlook of reconciliation, Raffi Wartanian, playing the role of Soghomon, an American-born Armenian who feels a desire to return to his homeland, Cihangir Duman, playing the role of Cemal, a Turkish journalist who is unable to call the Armenian massacres a genocide, Jamie Alana, playing the role of Ayesha, a Darfur Genocide survivor, and Haig Hovnanian, playing the role of Alex, a childhood friend of the family’s.

                                                                               Cihangir Duman

“Soghomon’s burning patriotism is something that exists within me and has evolved over the years,” said Wartanian, a New York City based performer, writer and musician who received his theater training with John Astin, Krista Smith, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and the New York Neo Futurists. “Soghomon gives me an opportunity to embrace a passion and certainty for something I question. He allows me to stop questioning, and to believe once again in something greater than myself in the form of nation and identity. Yet at the core of his struggle is a universal journey of self-discovery by coming to terms with love for family. Soghomon is a complicated ball of contradictions ripe for exploration and embrace on the stage.”

Wartanian, who as a musician has performed throughout Armenia and the United States as well as in Beirut and Prague, spent a year living in Armenia as a Fulbright Scholar. He brings his own personal experiences to the role as an Armenian born in Baltimore to grandparents who fled the Armenian Genocide and parents who left Beirut during the Civil War. 

Performing artist and composer/improviser Constance Cooper plays the role of Aghavni, the matriarch of the Khatchadourian family, who cannot bear to tell her story of escape from the Armenian Genocide in 1915, when 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Young Turks, and which to this day goes unacknowledged by the Turkish government.

“This play, drawing on Armenian-American experiences of trauma and diaspora, nevertheless brings us in touch with international dilemmas that are with us, at this moment of the 21st century, more than ever,” said Cooper, a native New Yorker, who holds a Ph.D. in composition from Princeton University. “In addition, what draws me to “From Sacred Wrath” is its excellent writing: its sober and undeviating devotion to its topic.”

Babayan, who was awarded the Armenian Youth Foundation grant and the Mabel Fenner Scholarship of Holy Cross Armenian Church to help stage this production, wrote the play with the intention of presenting it not only to the Armenian community, but to a more encompassing audience.

Babayan’s recent play, “Where Is Your Groom?” (Pesad Oor Eh) a comedic story that follows an Armenian-American family’s desire to preserve their ethnic ties while living in the diaspora, has been performed for enthusiastic audience members in six Armenian communities across the country since its off-Broadway debut in 2013.    

“We as Armenians know about the Armenian Genocide. It has to an extent, become our narrative. But what is instrumental as we commemorate the hundredth anniversary, is to ensure that in another hundred years, the genocide will not become a mere footnote in our history,” said Babayan. 

“From Sacred Wrath” will be performed on Saturday, April 18 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. at the Davenport Theatre, located at 354 West 45th Street in New York City. The play is in English with some Armenian lines, which will be translated in the commemorative play booklet. Run time: 1 hour and 30 minutes, including one intermission. Limited seating. For tickets and more information, please visit www.fromsacredwrath.ticketbud.com.

Photo 1 - Raffi Wartanian

Photo 2 - Cihangir Duman

Photo 3 - Constance Cooper