BORN & DIED and THE SADDEST OF SAD MEN ~ Two Plays

By Perch Zeyuntsyan, Translated by S. Peter Cowe and Daniel Weissbort, Introduction by S. Peter Cowe Zeytuntsyan has provided a masterly portrayal of social life in Erevan at the height of the war in Nagorno Karabagh (1988-1994) under the destabilizing effects of the transition to democracy and market economy are reflected in his absurdist play Born & Died. It problematizes established theatrical conventions, highlighting the issue of self-censorship and the actor's desire to escape the oversight of the director and playwright. The Saddest of Sad Men, Zeytuntsyan's first drama, a tragicomedy on the citizen's struggle to maintain intellectual and moral integrity under a totalitarian regime, appeared on the Erevan stage in 1974. Abril Publishing Company (2001)