Armenian actor Narek Duryan’s ‘Operation Nemesis’ back on stage

Ahead of the Armenian Genocide centennial, French-Armenian actor and stage director Narek Duryan is returning to stage with his spectacle "Operation Nemesis.

The performance will played in Yerevan theatres from April 18 through 24.

A central development in the play is the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian, a Genocide survivor who assassinated former Ottoman Interior Minister Talaat Pasha as revenge for his role in orchestrating the mass killings of the Armenians.

Sentenced to death in their home country, the perpetrators escape to find shelter in Europe but the heroes of “Operation Nemesis” help bring the execution verdict to an end.

The play features a fight between sentiments and precise historic records. The scenes, full of motion and dynamic, rapidly alternate each other without weakening the plot’s emotionality and graveness.

Tehlirian's character is featured by Avo Khalatyan, a talented actor who manages to convey to the spectator the hero’s mental state before committing the murder, repeating his voice and image patterns, and experiences. With the same mastery, Khalatyan also embodies the image of the German defense lawyer who, not being a witness of the heinous crimes, survives the horrendous scenes impressed by witness testimonies, committing himself to Tehlirian’s defense but also acting as a particle of the Armenian nation.
                                      
The presence of a historian offers a unique solution to “Operation Nemesis”. Before every scene, the actor, Gagik Rostomyan, reiterates known and historically-proven facts quoted by non-Armenian historians.

“Operation Nemesis” went on stage in 2012. Every performance of it has seen crowded halls, with spectators leaving theater deeply impressed and inspired. 

The play has an important mission to introduce the younger generation to their ancestors’` deeds and their feat to take revenge upon the enemy notwithstanding obstacles.

An important fact it brings attention to is that no woman, child or innocent people were killed in the operation Nemesis.

One hundred years have passed, but nothing and nobody is forgotten.

We remember and demand.

Narek Duryan is the lead actor in the play. The producer is Christine Hovhannisyan.