March 10, 2005

Thought-Provoking Solo Plays about the Armenian Genocide

Award Winners to Stage Performance Pieces by Aram Kouyoumdjian

San Francisco, CA - Award-winning actress Jan Ahders will headline an evening of solo plays about the Armenian Genocide, written and directed by Aram Kouyoumdjian.  "Protest" and "The Delicate Lines," presented by the Bay Area Armenian National Committee will be performed at the C.A.F.E./Off Market Theater on Thursday, April 21 at 7:00 pm and Friday, April 22 at 8:00 pm.

In "The Delicate Lines," Ahders, the winner of four Elly Awards for acting, will star in a role specifically written for her by Kouyoumdjian, Elly Award winner for writing ("The Farewells") and directing ("Three Hotels").  The Sacramento Bee has hailed Ahders' work as "exceptional" and "remarkable," while describing the "classy Kouyoumdjian" as having "an adventurous artistic sensibility for intelligent productions."

"The Delicate Lines" follows the story of an Armenian woman in the days after the Armenian Genocide as she struggles with her poet brother's descent into madness and with her conflicted love for his best friend.  The piece, which will have its world premiere this April, will be paired with "Protest," a work constructed around a demonstration against Turkish denials of the Genocide.  "Protest" will be performed by Elly Award-nominated stage and screen actor J.D. Rudometkin.

All three artists are members of Vista Players, a theater group Kouyoumdjian co-founded and leads as Artistic Director.  The troupe has been called "boundlessly talented" by the Sacramento News & Review, and Kouyoumdjian has previously directed both Ahders and Rudometkin in plays including “Arcadia” by Tom Stoppard, and “The Play About the Baby” by Edward Albee.

The C.A.F.E. / Off Market Theater is located at 965 Mission Street, in San Francisco.  Tickets to the show are $20 and may be obtained by calling the ANC office at 415-387-3433.  Performances will begin promptly and there will be no late seating.