“Zabel in Exile” revives Yesayan’s brave message on stage
While writer and activist Zabel Yesayan had been relegated to obscurity for decades after her disappearance under murky circumstances in 1942, a new play titled Zabel in Exile resurrects her on stage with powerful, humorous and touching scenes of Yesayan’s past and excerpts of her written work. Written by R.N. Sandberg and sponsored by Judith Saryan and Victor Zarougian, Zabel in Exile offers a fresh perspective on Yesayan’s life that imagines aspects of the past in ways that resonate in the present for all Armenians.
Opening February 19 and running until March 8 at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the production has much to offer Armenian audiences.
Teaching us about ourselves
The play centers on the character Zabel as she awaits execution in a Soviet prison cell in 1937. While waiting for her fate to be decided, Zabel remembers her life’s major moments of resistance in classrooms, state hospitals, the Ottoman Empire and the Soviet Union. The play’s non-linear vignettes shed light on the events that Yesayan experienced and the places in which she lived.
Even Armenian audiences familiar with Yesayan’s life and times can learn something new by watching the play. As Saryan admits, “We know the stories that she’s been through: the massacres, the genocide, the Soviet Union, the [Stalinist] purges. We know these stories, but to actually learn about someone who experienced a huge swath of this very tumultuous time and who came out with so much energy, vigor, hope and a willingness to come face to face with her monsters…I think that Armenians would feel very proud.”
Actor Grace Experience, whose father is novelist Chris Bohjalian, expressed her excitement to play Yesayan’s daughter Sophie by sharing that “I grew up with [Yesayan’s] books in my house, but I know that most people don’t know who she is.” Experience continues, “ Zabel was so brave, and hearing the play during our first read through made me feel empowered to be brave.
An Armenian homecoming for a majority-Armenian cast
The production boasts a predominantly Armenian cast. Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian notes that “it was beyond my wildest imagination to have four of the six actors be Armenian” when putting out a call for Middle Eastern actors. Sandberg-Zakian, who is Armenian on her mother’s side, reflects that “since I didn’t grow up speaking Armenian or immersed in the Armenian community, I sometimes wondered if I was ‘Armenian enough’.” Over the years, she has had the opportunity to direct plays about many other communities, but “this production feels like a kind of homecoming.”
It’s a homecoming for many of the actors, too, as they return to their New England Armenian roots to play an ensemble of various characters on stage. June Baboian, who was born and raised in Watertown where she serves as a music director for a local Armenian church, beamed while sharing that “I feel like all my ancestors are going to be on stage with me.” Anelga Hajjar, who was born and raised in Boston but was recently based in Chicago, remarked on her role of the Guard: “People see bushy eyebrows and cast me as every ethnicity under the sun, but this time I get to be Armenian, so I’m excited.” Robert Najarian, whose Armenian-Italian family has roots in Massachusetts, stated, “That’s what I really hope for this show. That the Armenian community is made aware of it, because when they are made aware that they can see Armenians being represented on stage, they will come out in force.”
A moving (Armenian) family story
For Armenians in the cast, the family dynamics depicted on stage — such as the relationship between young Zabel and her father, or the relationship between older Zabel and her own daughter — inspire feelings of deep recognition and a renewed appreciation for the enduring bonds of family. Hajjar muses that “I’m curious about what we teach our children about our past and how to even frame the past that we’ve lived. From an Armenian standpoint, too: How do we teach our children to take in what has happened in our past, in our history?
Even cast members without Armenian heritage feel a connection to the family depicted on stage. The actor who plays Zabel, Sarah Corey, shared a personal connection, saying, “Zabel reminds me very much of my Lebanese grandmother, Isabelle, who came from Beirut and was very strong and incredibly intelligent. My Grammy is very much like Zabel.”
Playwright R.N. Sandberg describes the play by making connections to his Jewish heritage: “So many Armenian and Jewish works of art deal with genocide, holocaust, victimhood…and this has aspects of that. But it’s a family story. It’s a parents-and-children story. It has a good amount of humor in it, and it’s not a downer.”
A story that resonates with all
Ultimately, Zabel in Exile offers a timely and inspirational experience for Armenians watching Zabel come to life on stage.
“You’re going to be captivated by this woman,” says Sandberg, the playwright. “You’re going to be moved. You’re going to laugh. You’re going to learn things. You’re going to be appalled. You’re going to hopefully come out of it and want to engage with things in your life in a more active way. You’re going to look at people more openly.”
This exploration of interconnectedness is also articulated by Danny Bryck, a cast member of partly Sephardic Jewish heritage. Depicting characters from Zabel’s past, who represent a diverse range of cultural backgrounds violently uprooted and displaced by the Ottoman Empire, is “to stitch that tapestry back together,” “to reach back to the lost connections that our ancestors had to inspire us to forge new ones now.”
Experience the play during its three-week-long run
Tickets for the three-week run of Zabel in Exile are on sale now at www.BostonPlaywrights.org. (Adults: $40; BU Faculty/Staff: $25; Seniors 62+: $25; Students: $15; Student rush: $0). Pay-What-You-Want previews will be held Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m.
