Armenia under Soviet control, 1937. A woman rises up from a prison cell surrounded by gray stone walls, only to learn she has been sentenced to death.
“Zabel in Exile,” a play written by R.N. Sandberg and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, follows Armenian writer and activist Zabel Yessayan’s journey as she finds her voice amid darkness and suffering. The show ran from Feb. 19 to Mar. 8 at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre on Commonwealth Avenue.
The plot follows Zabel as she awaits execution, from her early years fighting against an arrogant teacher to her experiences witnessing genocide. Physical confinement doesn’t stop her thoughts from reaching toward freedom or from inspiring future generations.
Born in Constantinople, then capital of the Ottoman Empire, in 1878, Yessayan was a leading voice for women’s rights and social justice throughout her life. During World War I, Yessayan was on an Ottoman list of Armenian intellectuals to be arrested, but she escaped detection and eventually fled to Bulgaria.
In exile, Yessayan advocated for refugees, orphans and survivors of the Armenian genocide through articles and books, including “My Soul in Exile,” a novel that was published in 1922. After moving to Armenia, which was then a state within the USSR, she was arrested and imprisoned in 1937. She died in prison in unknown circumstances a few years later.
Even those unfamiliar with Yessayan’s works, or those unable to point to Armenia on a map will find themselves drawn into this story without feeling out of place.
Sarah Corey, who played Zabel, brings striking conviction to the role by capturing both the young girl refusing to obey a teacher who mistreats poor students and the imprisoned activist defending herself against wrongful accusations.
Growing up, Zabel always heard people telling her to be a quiet girl, but she never stayed quiet in the face of injustice.
Encouraged by her father to stand up to oppression, Zabel learned that writing carries power. Witnessing people dying in a massacre and watching children taken away from their mothers, she started writing about the plight of Armenians, even when writing became a crime.
As Zabel revisits her trauma from historical events and her personal life, death always haunts her.
From time to time, Death, dressed in scarlet and black and wearing a face mask, sneaks onto the stage to sharp, unnerving drumbeats. In a frantic dance with Death, Zabel never surrenders, crying out “Light! Light!” against the dreadful darkness.
“Zabel in Exile” delicately balances heavy historical themes and complex humanity.
When a prison guard appears to be helping her, Zabel has to choose between doubt and trust while facing the most vulnerable parts of herself.
Sophie, Zabel’s daughter, reveals her loneliness and fear during the years Zabel is away from home, devoting herself to activism. Together, the tensions allow the audience to see a historical figure’s complex inner world.
Zabel’s fight inspired not only the people in her time, but her influence extends to us all in this chaotic political moment when democracy faces serious challenges.
https://dailyfreepress.com/03/18/13/218711/review-zabel-in-exile-honors-armenian-writers-voice-that-outlived-silence/
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