By A. B.
The second issue of the trilingual academic journal Theater Studies of Central and Eastern Europe (“Studia Teatralne Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej”) of the University of Warsaw has been recently published in Poland (editor-in-chief Andriej Moskwin). This time the focus of the journal is the Armenian theater. The cover presents the photo of Yerevan Sundukyan National Academic Theater.
The 530-page volume presents 34 authors from 23 countries; each country is presented by one to three articles, yet there are more than ten academic and informative articles from Armenia, all in English and Russian, referring not only to Armenian theater, but also cinema, ballet, playwriting, Shakespeare studies in Armenia. The list of Armenian theaters, Armenian theatrical international festivals and the Theater-Drama website are also presented in a separate section. The volume is illustrated with dozens of photos. Yerevan-based playwright, writer, Ph.D. in art studies Anush Aslibekyan is responsible for the Armenian edition of the journal.
The articles on the Armenian section include “A Brief History of Armenian Theater and Cinema” and “Armenia’s Love for Shakespeare” by Artsvi Bakhchinyan, “The Formation of Soviet-Armenian Stage Directing (1920s)” by Narine Sargsyan, “From Freedom to the System. The Armenian Theater Directing of the First Half of the 20th Century” by Sara Nalbandyan, “Memories of the Lost Country in William Saroyan’s Plaus on Armenian Themes” by Anush Aslibekyan, “Shakespeare in the Works of Armenian Choreographers” by Nazenik Sargsyan, “Shakespearean Library after R. Zaryan at National Academy of Sciences Republic Armenia Institute of Art” by Anahit Bekaryan, “Arthur Ghukasyan: ‘High Fest is a Flag-Bearing festival in Armenia’”, “Yerevan International Shakespeare Theater Festival” and “International Theatrical Festival “Armmono”” by Andriej Moskwin, “Theater of the Third Republic of Armenia” by Karine Khodikyan, “SHAKEspeareSHAKE – Armenian Land and Destinies” by Sona Meloyan and “International Contemporary Dance Festival “Summeet”
(Yerevan, 23–29 August 2021)” by Roger Smith.
Amongs the Armenian arts and culture, theater is perhaps the most rarely presented to foreign audiences and in foreign languages.
This is not the first cooperation between Armenian theater specialists and Andriej Moskwin, Polish philologist, slavist, culturologist, theatrologist, translator, playwright, Professor at the University of Warsaw (Department of Central and East European Intercultural Studies at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics) and head of the Laboratory for Theater and Drama Studies in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2019, on his initiative, the volume “Modern Armenian Drama” was published, containing Polish translations of modern Armenian playwrights, in which Moskwin was the compiler, editor and the author of one of the two prefaces. His cooperation with Armenian playwrights and theatre specialists promises to be continuous.
