Samvel Elbakyan: We should even be grateful that we have stayed an reserved so long in Georgia (video)
The only Armenian theater outside Armenia is the theater named after Petros Adamian in Tbilisi, which has a history of 160 years and where Petros Adamian, Siranush, Vahram Papazian and Hovhannes Abelyan perform. "Over seven years, as an accidental building, the doors of the theater have been closed and artistic director Armen Bayanduryan has kept it for the audience for so many years without having a stage," says theater actor Samvel Elbakyan. The crew of the theater represent their plays on different stages of Georgia and Armenia and hope that soon they will perform on the stage of the new building of the theater. According to Samvel Elbakyan, renovation works have been started for six months, for which Georgia's former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili should be thanked, as well as today's authorities that provide money from the state budget. "The emigration of Armenians from Georgia is being talked, but Georgians are migrating today and they face that problem more than Armenians. If there is a problem of survival and rebirth in Armenia today ... what is it about? We should even be grateful that we have stayed an reserved so long in Georgia. After Saakashvili, no Armenian was told to leave, and Nikol Pashinyan's duxov (with courage) entry into the Georgia has given an opportunity to Armenian community in Georgia to revive." Samvel Elbakyan is convinced that even the Russian community will celebrate its rebirth, too. "Whatever happens, Armenian remains Armenian, and you will see what a powerful Diaspora we will have," he says.
