The Book of Sorrow

The performance The Book of Sorrow, inspired by the experience of reading the Armenian literary monument The Book of Lamentations by Grigor Narekatsi, explores medieval Christian lyricism as a tool for overcoming political despair. In the context of today’s world—suffocating under the weight of wars, climate crisis, and the collapse of democratic institutions—the texts of the 10th-century Armenian poet appear to offer a new way to cope with catastrophe.

As part of the preparation for the performance, a group of performers will travel to Lake Van, near the site of the monastery where Narekatsi once lived and wrote. Today, a mosque stands on that site, and the lake itself was expropriated by the Young Turks following the Armenian Genocide.

One of the key performative elements of the production is the group’s intention to bring water from Lake Van to Yerevan, incorporating it into the creation of a theatrical poetic ritual.

Participants: Lana Dorokhova, Andrey Yankus, Sergey Shchetkovsky, Alexander Teteriv-Kosach, Elizaveta Arakelyan

Narékatzi, Paul Celan, texts by the performance team