Armenian Genocide to be marked with special reading at the Douglas

In observance of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, Center Theatre Group, in partnership with the Armenian Dramatic Artists Alliance (ADAA), will present “Staging the Unstageable: The Esthetics of Dramatizing Atrocity” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Tuesday, April 28 at 8 p.m., Asbarez reports.

“Staging the Unstageable” is a reading of excerpts from plays that dramatize in different ways the Armenian Genocide, which was the systematic extermination (beginning in April 1915) by the Ottoman Empire of its minority Armenian subjects.

The performance will be followed by a panel discussion with notable guests from the Armenian community and with Los Angeles theatre artists who have grappled with the responsibilities of bringing historical tragedies to the stage. Key to the discussion are the questions: does theatre have a role in ensuring that communities around the world never forget historical sins? And how can a theatre-maker bring such trauma to the stage?

The presentation of “Staging the Unstageable” is part of the Douglas Plus programming at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Douglas Plus provides the flexibility to explore new work and push boundaries through fully and minimally staged events, workshops and readings and traditional and non-traditional performance configurations.