Komitas

How does one survive genocide?

KOMITAS, a docufictional musical theatre, is dedicated to the Armenian priest, composer, ethnomusicologist and singer Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935).

He was widely regarded as the “voice of the Armenians”. A destiny he shared with hundreds of other Armenian intellectuals, he too was arrested by the Young Turks in April 1915 and was one of just eight men to survive this, the first of many deportations to come. But at what price? Komitas went on to spend the rest of his life severely traumatised in a psychiatric institution.

Over the course of 15 chapters, Marc Sinan and his ensemble wander from one station of Komitas Vardapet’s life to the next, following in the footsteps of his ethnomusicological trips throughout Anatolia. His fate is representative of the fate of all victims of the Armenian Genocide.

The representational soliloquy of the multi-award winning actress Sesede Terziyan interacts with live music, video projections and live soundscapes that reflect the psyche of Komitas and the disintegration of his clear mind due to the deportation.

The musical score combines audio recordings of a singing Komitas and other prisoners of war with contemporary compositions. The performance deals with his life and times, while highlighting the absence of his voice, the absence of music and the cultural and human loss brought about by the murder of the Armenian population.

Marc Sinan is himself the grandson of a genocide survivor: His grandmother on the maternal side was raised as an orphan on the Black Sea by a strictly Muslim Turkish family who were unable to reconcile the expulsion of their Armenian neighbours with their faith.

Premiere: 10 April 2015 at the festival Tonspuren, Irsee