The Moscow Art Theatre and Russian-Armenian actors: circulating a theatrical tradition

Monthly Armenian Studies seminar organized by Inalco and the Society for Armenian Studies.
Montage de 3 visuels, deux portraits d'hommes et une photo d'une famille dans un salon entre la fin du 19 et début du 20ème siècles
1. The Final Moments of Act IV of Tchehoff’s Uncle Vanya at the Moscow Art Theatre / 2. Portrait d’Evgueni Vakhtangov / 3. Portrait de Vladimir Nemirovitch-Dantchenko © 1. extrait de The Russian Theatre par Oliver M. Sayler, Theatre Arts Magazine, 1922 / 2. photographe inconnu, vers 1920 / 3. photographe inconnu, fin XIXe siècle - domaine public, via Wikimedia Commons‎

Moscow was one of the centers where the theatrical tradition and repertoire of Ottoman Armenians found an extension. This tradition was integrated into the multilingual and multicultural practices of the Moscow Art Theatre. Russian-Armenian actors played a major role, helping to spread this tradition to the United States, Europe and the South Caucasus. This presentation will reflect on these circulations and on the place of Armenian theater in spaces beyond imperial and national borders.

Aysan Sönmez is a researcher in cultural and artistic history of the Ottoman Empire, translator and linguist. She holds a PhD from Université Paris 8 (Institut Français de Géopolitique), and her thesis is entitled "Les territoires du théâtre arménien au XIXe siècle, d'Istanbul à New York, en passant par Tbilissi et Moscou".