Armenia: theatrical performance triggers political scandal

After the experimental performance staged in Yerevan with the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the youth wing of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" Party has demanded to dismiss the Minister, Araik Arutyunyan.

On November 4, the above youth wing released a statement demanding the resignation of Minister Arutyunyan. According to the applicants, the Minister threatens the entire system of education, culture and sports in the country.

The resignation demand was preceded by an incident that occurred during the experimental performance of the play "The Excitement and the Bell", which was presented near the fountains in front of the "Republic Square" metro station in Yerevan. The performance, based on the Armenian futuristic poetry of the 1920s, was staged with the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.

The video of the performance was posted on November 2 on the "epress.am" YouTube channel. It is heard in the video that the performance is accompanied by shouts "Shame!" by some spectators dissatisfied with the staging. One of them was trying to pour brilliant green over the actors. Opponents of the performance called the organizers and performers "Satan's minions."

The above Ministry has treated the criticism as an attempt to form the public opinion for someone's personal benefit.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 5, 2019 at 05:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.