"I saw the stories while listening to the songs, I found myself in each story. I became my own school in every melody I heard. Every tree has a name, and every person has a song."
Gomidas, which premiered in Turkish and French as part of the İstanbul Theater Festival in November 2020, will perform in Paris and Nice in March as it approaches its 100th show.
Written and directed by Ahmet Sami Özbudak, supervised and produced by Ersin Umut Güler, the play features Fehmi Karaarslan portraying the character of Gomidas, accompanied by the Lusavoriç Choir under the direction of Hagop Mamigonyan, singing Gomidas Vartabed's works.
Gomidas, which will be staged at Complexe Barsamian in Nice on Friday, March 22, will meet theater enthusiasts in Paris at Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell on Saturday, March 23.
The play will meet the audience in French at the French Cultural Center in İstanbul's Beyoğlu on Tuesday, March 19 at 8:00 pm.
Gomidas's journey shaped by tragic stories
Gomidas Vartabed was born in Kütahya during the Ottoman period and his journey took him to Echmiadzin, İstanbul, Berlin, and Paris; he left deep traces on Armenian, Anatolian, and world culture as a musicologist, composer, and choir conductor, as well as being a priest.
Familiar with both Anatolia and Armenia that he referred to as the "Music Box," and drawing inspiration from these lands, Gomidas's journey is shaped by many tragic stories.
After being deported from İstanbul along with Armenian intellectuals in 1915, he spent the last 18 years of his life in a mental hospital, buried in silence. Calling out to the imaginary sheep left to him by his close friend, he takes the audience on an extraordinary journey in his own life story.
While listening to the story from Gomidas's mouth, the Lusavoriç Choir accompanies the story with its 40 members.
The play is performed in Turkish and French, and the audience can choose their preferred version. (EMK/PE)
