Her great-great-grandfather survived the Armenian genocide; she grew up in rural Indiana. He was a storyteller specializing in Karagöz plays, a form of shadow puppetry from the Ottoman Empire; she discovers her forebear’s handcrafted puppets in an attic trunk in Aleppo. One of the figurines, she realizes, “looks like me.”

Such is the epoch-bridging, border-blurring premise of “Azad (The Rabbit and the Wolf),” Sona Tatoyan’s play now in a Golden Thread Productions and Hakawati NGO world premiere. In the show, which features live oud playing by Ara Dinkjian, unboxing the puppets becomes a rowdy, yet insistent way to unearth buried history — of nations and families alike — and break silence.

“You can arrest people; you can’t arrest stories. You can bomb buildings; you can’t bomb stories,” Tatoyan says in the play.

Jared Mezzocchi directs.

— Lily Janiak

We have a fabulous new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper in store for you today. And joining us on this episode, we had the creator/performer Sora Tatoyan and the director/collaborator Jared Mezzocchi, to talk about their new work AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf). This was such a fascinating show, and the story of the piece coming to gather is even more incredible. SO be sure that you tune in and come out to support these wonderful artists!

Սօնա Թաթոյեան | Sona Tatoyan is a first generation Syrian-Armenian-American actor/writer/producer who spent childhood summers in Aleppo where she learned about the Armenian Genocide. The history book in her small Indiana town made no mention of it. From childhood she obsessed with who tells the story, seeing that narrative propagates “truth.” At Wake Forest University, Maya Angelou mentored her, exemplifying story’s power to address injustice. “When something is the truth, you must speak it. No matter what, you must speak it.”

In the winter of 2019, Syrian-Armenian-American theatre and film artist Sona Tatoyan travelled to her family’s abandoned home in war-torn Aleppo, Syria. Her goal: to retrieve a treasured piece of her heritage — the over 100-year-old Karagöz shadow puppets crafted by her great-great-grandfather, Abkar Knadjian.

In this episode of Mindful Leaders, we explore the life of Sona Tatoyan, writer, actress, producer, and founder of Hakawati. This non-profit storytelling medium helps raise the voices of frontline and marginalized communities. Born to Syrian Armenian parents in Baltimore, Maryland, Sona grew up balancing two very different cultures: American rural life and a Middle Eastern, Syrian, and Armenian environment.

“The Center for Armenian Studies celebrated an evening of cultural enrichment on Saturday as producer and narrator Sona Tatoyan and actor Ayhan Hülagü used shadow puppetry and narration to share the art of Karagöz in their show “Azad Storytelling: Interactive Karagoz Puppetry Experience” at the Keene Theater.”

Sona Tatoyan (’00), a Syrian-Armenian-American writer and actor, traveled from her home in Los Angeles to war-torn Aleppo, Syria, in 2019 on a mission:

To save her great-great-grandfather’s 100-year-old Karagöz shadow puppets. He had taken the puppets with him when he and his family fled present-day Turkey to Syria in 1915 to escape the Armenian genocide.

She searched for her family’s century-old legacy in war-torn Syria. Inside an old trunk, she found it.

In 2019, L.A.-based actor and writer Sona Tatoyan traveled to her family’s abandoned home in Aleppo, Syria. Eight years had passed since she last visited and, in that time, war in the country had erupted and persisted.

Countering Destruction with Creation: How Azad, a multimedia performance, changed my life.

Walking through the doors of the black box theater, I was greeted with an ambrosial smell reminiscent of my visit to a church in Lebanon. I could not identify why I immediately thought of the church…

Interview: Sona Tatoyan on her Multimedia Theatrical Experience AZAD at the Pico Playhouse

During the darkest of times, surprise discoveries of childhood joy can allow the sunshine in on even the bleakest of situations. And with Ukrainian refugees in the news daily, when I heard about Sona Tatoyan’s…

Episode Description

Sona Tatoyan is a first-generation Syrian-Armenian-American actor/writer/producer with bases in Los Angeles, Berlin, Syria, and Armenia. Bridging cultures and having experienced numerous wars, her wisdom runs deep and her stories are captivating. In 2019 she traveled to her family’s home in Syria which had been abandoned following the 2011 Syrian civil war. There she discovered her great-great grandfather’s shadow puppets in a trunk in the attic while missiles continued to shoot overhead. The shadow puppets spoke to her, inspiring healing, reflection, and progression. Intending to share what transpired during her recent visit to Syria, Sona has written an Immersive Multimedia Theatrical Experience, titled Azad (“free” in Armenian). It’s a personal tale of “one woman’s magical, multi-generational, healing journey from the Armenian Genocide to the Syrian war.” In this episode, you’ll learn about the legendary 1001 Nights, Sona’s journey to healing herself, and how darkness & light dance together.