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Arts & Culture International Opinion Russian theater Soviet History

Saroyan, Shakespeare, and Lenin

August 20, 2026

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The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

147

By Raphael Hakopdjanian

In the fall of 1978, I, then 29 and the artistic director of the Armenian National Theater, was visiting Moscow when my Armenian colleagues called me from Yerevan. They let me know that William Saroyan had just flown in from the U.S. The great novelist and playwright was interested in exploring the Moscow theater scene.

Back then, I had both personal and professional connections at all the Moscow theaters, so I was well aware of the latest theatrical innovations. I suggested we go see “Richard III,” directed by the Armenian Hrachya Ghaplanyan.

“Where are we going?” asked Saroyan. On that cold autumn day, he looked much younger than his 70 years.

“We’re going to the Vakhtangovites,” I replied. “The Vakhtangov Theater is one of the most famous theaters in Moscow. It was founded by Konstantin Stanislavsky’s favorite student, the Armenian Evgeny Vakhtangov.”

“But why akhtangov? Vakhtangov is not an Armenian last name!” Saroyan sounded vaguely irritated.

“Vakhtangov’s father, a tobacco magnate, changed it to sound more Russian,” I explained, “The director wasn’t even born then.”

“Well, then.” Saroyan made a hmm sound as we entered the theater lobby. The Vakhtangov’s director, Evgeny Simonov, was waiting to show us to our orchestra seats.

I had just enough time to say, “After Vakhtangov, another Armenian was the director of this theater: Ruben Simonov. This is his son and successor, Evgeniy.”

“So they were Simonyans originally,” Saroyan muttered grumpily. “Thank God that Kaplanyan did not change his name to Kaplanov, and you did not become Akopdzhanov. I once scolded a great artist for taking a non-Armenian pseudonym. Tell me, how is Arshile Gorky better than Vostanik Adoyan?

Luckily, the play was starting, which saved us from further discussion. However, it did not save us from further conversation, as Saroyan immediately became very engrossed in the show. At the outset, he had a very strong reaction to Richard Ill’s opening monologue, telling me, “It’s so strange for me to hear “The Winter of Our Discontent” in Russian!” His response to subsequent scenes was so ebullient, that nearby audience members started to shush him. A nearby patron-most likely a KGB officer-told the shushers, “He can say whatever he wants.

This is William Saroyan. Yes, the William Saroyan!”

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

Topics: Russian theater, Soviet History

People: Raphael Hakopdjanian, William Saroyan

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Hearing his last name, Saroyan smiled broadly. “And here Steinbeck insisted that of all the writers in my generation, only Hemingway is well-known in the USSR. Ha! Funny, Steinbeck called his last true novel “The Winter of Our Discontent.” Soon, soon, my own winter will come.”

After the performance, the entire cast, largely comprised of actors famous throughout the Soviet Union, waited excitedly backstage for Saroyan. Saroyan spoke in Armenian, which I translated into Russian. The first person he spoke to was Mikhail Ulyanov, who played the title role.

“Are you related to Lenin?” he asked. (Lenin’s real last name was Ulyanov – R.A.)

“No, we’re just namesakes,” Mikhail Ulyanov answered in some confusion, obviously not expecting such a question.

“That can’t be right,” Saroyan shook his head. “You are a very talented actor!”

What did he mean by this paradoxical phrase? Was it barely hidden irony (Richard III-Lenin-Ulyanov), was it meant as sarcasm (a play about tyrants in a country ruled by Communist dictatorship) or some sort of nod or acknowledgment of government status? Mikhail Ulyanov was a “People’s Artist of the USSR” and one of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhne’s favorites.

I think it was an amalgam of causticity and wit, rapture and delight, absurd word association and volcanic temperament… in other words, everything that distinguishes Saroyan’s prose in American literature and in world literature. A great example of Saroyan’s minimalism!

(Raphael Hakopdjanian is a playwright, novelist and essayist. He was born in Yerevan in 1949. His plays have been staged in Armenia, Poland, and Russia. His novel Polish Islands was published in Polish (Warsaw). His dramatic works have appeared in Russian in the Moscow-based journal Sovremennaya Dramaturgiya (Contemporary Drama) and in Polish in the distinguished theatre journal Dialog. He is also the author of the book Armenian Journeys, and Russians in San Francisco as well as numerous articles and essays published in Russian, English, and Polish. This piece was translated into English by by Irina Dianova.)

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