Rise of the Armenian Theatre

Previously, I have discussed how Tigran the great commissioned the first Theatre in Armenia way back in 70BC, which was 14 years before the famous public theatres opened in Rome. Also, I went to discuss how it was Tigran’s son, Artavazd II, who championed early theatre in Armenia, even writing and directing many productions himself.

Armenian Theatre

Well now we can take a look at how Armenian theatre developed as we head in to the Middle Ages.

Les Mimes de l'Orient
When the independent Armenian kingdoms began to fall in the mid-14^th century theatre in Armenia was consigned to a series of theatre groups scattered across the region. Two centuries later and we know that the remnants of Armenian theatre continued to scattered in this manner from the writings of the French world traveller Charden.

In his work ‘Les Mimes de l'Orient’ he writes in detail about a performance at an Armenian mime theatre in Yeravan, 1664. Under Persian rule at the time, Armenia theatre prospered and Chardan goes on to explain that Armenian traditions were kept alive with mime action, complemented by song, instruments and dance, similar, he commented, to European opera.

Western Armenian Theatre
During the mid-18^th century European plays were being translated into classical Armenian, however, they rarely attracted big audiences and so productions became less common. Though, the plays were used in schools across the country to teach classical Armenian. 

Also, as was common at the time, plays were written by the clergy and put on by the students themselves. It was through the efforts of these dedicated few that the modern Western Armenian theatre was born.

Armenian Influence
As 1855 was drawing to a close the first Western Armenian theatre group was formed and their success led to the construction of new theatres in areas of Constantinople and it was not long before Armenian actors were appearing on Turkish stages in theatres across the land. So much so that scholars often refer to Armenians as having a significant impact on contemporary Turkish theatre.

New Era of Armenia Theatre
Conversely, it was not until the late 19th century that Armenian theatre took a major step forward within its own borders. Dramatists, such as Bedros Tourian (1852–1872), are credited with kick starting a new era of Armenia theatre and stepping away from the traditional classical theatre and setting a precedent for modern contemporary theatre in Armenia. Despite his young age at his death Tourian wrote over ten plays which were put into wide spread production across the country.