Sona Tatoyan: Azad
In September 2023, Sona Tatoyan and her collaborators developed the third act of Tatoyan’s autobiographical, multimedia theatrical performance, Azad, at the ArtLab. A “kaleidoscopic story within a story” (Hakawati), Azad is a work-in-progress theatrical experience that brings together ancient Karagöz shadow puppets, indigenous Middle Eastern folk music, oral storytelling, video projection, and movement. This work-in-progress was shared and discussed with Harvard audiences as part of the ArtsThursday series; the performance then traveled to Berlin and Aleppo.
Azad is part of the work of the social justice non-profit organization Hakawati. Passionate about storytelling, human rights, and transformation, Sona Tatoyan founded Hakawati to work with communities affected by the trauma of war and geopolitical instability.
Sona Tatoyan is a first-generation Syrian-Armenian-American actor/writer/producer with bases in Aleppo, Syria; Berlin, Germany; LA, California; and Yerevan, Armenia. As an actress, stage credits include world premieres at Yale Repertory Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, The American Conservatory Theatre, and others. She starred in The Journey, the first American independent film shot in Armenia (winner, Audience Award Milan Film Festival, 2002). As a writer, her first feature film script, The First Full Moon, was a 2011 Sundance/RAWI Screenwriters Lab participant and 2012 Dubai Film Connection/Festival Project. Sona is the founder of Disruptive Narrative, a social justice/social enterprise production company, and of Hakawati, a non-profit storytelling vehicle focusing on elevating the voices of frontline and marginalized communities.
Jared Mezzocchi is a theater artist working most notably as a director and multimedia designer. He is a two-time Obie Award winner, a two-time MacDowell Artist Fellow, and a 2012 Princess Grace Award winner. In 2016, he received Obie, Lucille Lortel, and Henry Hewes Awards for his work in Qui Nguyen’s “Vietgone” at the Manhattan Theatre club. Jared is an Associate Professor at The University of Maryland, where he teaches in the MFA Design program for the projection and multimedia track, and serves as Producing Artistic Director of Andy’s Summer Playhouse, an innovative children’s theater in New Hampshire producing original work by professional artists from across the country.
Ayhan Hulagu is a Kurdish actor and Karagöz puppeteer currently based in the US. He founded the theater group Hayal Perdesi in Turkey and later launched the PAU Theatre Festival. He was a member of Sahika Tekand Studio Players in Istanbul. Ayhan was granted an “extraordinary ability artist” visa to the US for bringing the Karagöz art form to the United States and founding Karagöz Theater Company in 2017. He has performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, National Puppet Festival, Neopolis International Theater Festival, and La MaMa Puppet S., to name a few. Ayhan made history as the first artist to introduce Karagöz – in its nearly 700 years history – to Broadway. He is a board member of Puppeteers of America.