Our interlocutor is director of the play “You Rejoice My Heart” Karine Kocharyan.

Between 1977 and 1995, Karine Kocharyan was a leading actress of Sundukyan Theater of Yerevan and starred as a leading actress in Armenian films.

Between 1990 and 1995, she was a lecturer of the Faculties of Acting and Film Directing at Yerevan State Institute of Theater and the Armenian State Pedagogical Institute.

In 1995, she moved to New York where she continued her career as an actress and director.

In 1996, she created the first Armenian TV show in New York called “Ardzagank” (Reaction), and in 2011, she replaced it with the program “Syurqi Dzayn” (Voice of the Diaspora) that presents the life of Armenians in Eastern USA. She continued her career as a director and directed the plays of Shirvanzadeh, Pertch Zeytuntsyan, Chekhov and Neil Simon in New York. She recently directed Turkish writer Kemal Yalcin’s play “You Rejoice My Heart”, which was first directed in 2015 in New York and is dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

-Could you please briefly present the play?

-Turkish writer Kemal Yalcin was persecuted for his political views in Turkey and was compelled to escape to Germany. In the late 1980s, inspired by his Armenian teacher, he decided to return to Turkey to search for incognito and converted Armenians and to examine their stories.  This led to the publication of his documental book “You Rejoice My Heart”. The first copies of the book (3,000 copies) were destroyed at the publishing house and became scraps. However, after ten years of the author’s persistent efforts and court trials, the author managed to republish the book, which is merely based on facts. The tragedy of Armenians having been converted and having lived incognito is very impressive and painfully understandable at the same time. This book influenced the creation of the play, which is also a documental drama with real characters.

-What is the ideological basis of the play?

-The play starts with the Turkish writer’s apology and ends with the bread that the author’s mother would bake in Honaz village and distribute as mercy for the souls of the innocent Armenian martyrs (just like Armenians distribute pieces of sacrificed lamb), after which the play concludes with the following words of the author: “That night, everyone in Honaz village slept at ease.” The message is that if the Turks acknowledge and apologize, they and their generations will live at ease and that lifting the burden of guilt of the past will first soothe their souls. This is the main idea.

-Is it different from other similar plays? If yes, please highlight the differences.

-The first difference is that a Turk is talking about the Armenian Cause and presenting the horrific stories of eyewitnesses without changing anything.

The second difference is that all the characters are real. The main character is Kemal Yalcin, who is played by famous actor of Armenia Arthur Karapetyan. The Armenian teacher and the other characters are still with us, but only some of their children are alive. After our performance in New York, we would receive quite a lot of calls from the real characters. We would receive calls from Canada, the United States, Germany and Turkey. Everyone was moved and excited to see that their real-life stories had been presented on stage.

-Will this performance be one of the performances aimed at keeping the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide alive, or does it propose a different solution?

-It is definitely one of those performances, and not only as a theatrical value, but also as a fact about the consequences of the Armenian Genocide. It is about the fact that the Turks’ crime didn’t end in 1915. It had a deep impact on the generations, especially the Armenians who stayed in Western Armenia and lived their lives in fear. There is only one solution that it proposes, and that is the following: “Turks, acknowledge your crime, and only after that extend a hand for reconciliation to the Armenians as a new generation that will never repeat what its ancestors did!” In fact, this is the same solution that the author, Kemal Yalcin proposes.

-We know that this is not the first performance of the play. Could you tell us about the previous tours?

-On June 12, 2015, we performed the play for the first time in New York. Later, we performed in New Jersey. In October 2015, we performed in Gyumri, Vanadzor and Yerevan. I must say that Kemal Yalcin was invited to all the performances, and the Armenian teacher, Meline was invited to the performances in New York. Her role was played by actress Satik Hakhnazaryan from Armenia. The performances were a great success everywhere. The audience was very moved, as the people said. You couldn’t find a person who had not shed a tear. Interestingly, young people are more moved, especially the young people in Armenia. I can still remember seeing them shed tears.

-Why do you think the Armenian audience must watch this play?

-You know, it is safe to say that the Armenian nation knows almost nothing or very little about the Armenians who were saved by a miracle after the Armenian Genocide and who continued to live in Western Armenia. We sometimes meet Armenians who only speak in Turkish and we often feel bad and even ignore them. It is not always that we go deep into their stories that can be referred to as the collective history of our nation. The life of each character of the play may become a long book about the given era and events, as well as the people who lived incognito, converted and in fear. I believe every Armenian must get acquainted with these characters, and I repeat that these stories are not the stories of an Armenian writer, but the documented stories of a Turkish writer. This is a real and valuable document that is part of the archives of materials devoted to the Armenian Genocide.

This play, especially through the gifted actors that star in this play, will cause aesthetic pleasure, and I would be glad, if everyone watches it.

LosArmNews.com