Armenian community spreads awareness of genocide through theatre

The Armenian Genocide holds a significant role in world history, yet it barely gets covered in schools nationwide. In order to continue educating the public of this disastrous event, the Armenian Community of Rhode Island presented a play last Sunday at the Scottish Rite Auditorium.

“Women of Ararat,” a play by Judith Boyajian, is a tribute to the centennial of American Genocide, presenting a story about the genocide’s long-term effects on families. The play is based off Boyajian’s family during the genocide and tells the story of two young musicians who are in love. Victoria Ezikovich, who plays the character Julia, and Dillon Medina, who plays William, are faced with many obstacles because of their ethnicity. While Julia is a descendant of Armenian women, William’s family are Muslims from Turkey.

The Armenian Genocide, which involved the killing of 1.5 million Armenian Christians by the Ottoman government, began in 1915. Armenians were either killed or tortured by death marches leading through the Syrian Desert. Julia’s grandmothers were survivors of the genocide, however, they are forced to live through the pain and memories every day.

When Julia’s grandmothers are infuriated with her for bringing home a muslim-Turkish man, she can’t fully grasp why. Her grandmothers begin to tell her their stories about raids, death marches and killings they witnessed during the genocide in a very intense and heartbreaking way. Although the genocide took place so many years ago, the older generation still has prejudice toward the younger generation; the play explores the past crimes and what people can do to fix the future.

After the performance, a discussion panel was held that included the director, actress and 2015 Rhode Island Genocide Educator of the Year Carol Mikaelian Schlink along with Boyajian and a historian. Boyajian is one of five generations and said she wanted to write the play in honor of the three grandmothers she grew up with.

Sunday marked the play’s seventh performance within two years. Boyajian hopes to make the play into a film so students in school can learn more about the massacre, since people are still not aware of it. She is actively involved in getting the genocide implemented into school systems not only in the Northeast but across the country.

Dorothy Martiesian, chair of the event, originally saw the play two years ago in Watertown, Massachusetts and thought it would be a good production to bring to Rhode Island. With the help of a grant, Martiesian and her group members spearheaded the event. The booklet that was handed out before the play included tributes to genocide survivors, which Martiesian said “triggered a nerve for a lot of people.”

Martiesian believes the play hit home for the audience members of Cranston, since the town has a large Armenian representation. April 24 was the anniversary of the genocide, but she still believes it’s important to spread awareness every day.

“2015 was the 100th anniversary,” Martiesian said. “The community said, ‘Okay, it’s been 100 years, but we’re not going to stop. We’re going to continue and try to move forward to educate.’ That’s what it’s about. It’s not about getting back, it’s not about being bitter. I think the play showed that it’s about understanding and educating people.”

She hopes the audience learned how important it is to understand what is going on in the world and the unnecessary suffering that people have to go through so that we can show more compassion and emanate humanity to others.

For more information about Armenian history, visit the Armenian Historical Association’s website at aharimuseum.org.