INTERVIEW: ‘Warrior Queen’ is ready to inspire younger theatergoers
Photo: Ani Marderosian stars in Warrior Queen Anahit the Brave. Photo courtesy of Gabrieal Griego / Provided by Lucy Pollak Public Relations.
The new family-friendly show Warrior Queen Anahit the Brave takes a 19th-century Armenian fairy tale by Ghazaros Aghayan, and adapts the plot and characters for the stage, according to press notes. The story surrounds a peasant woman named Anahit who eventually rises through the ranks and becomes a warrior. Children in the audience should take note because the creative team behind the show want the young theatergoers to go home with some lessons learned.
The musical, produced by Imagine Theatre, is the brainchild of writer-director Armina LaManna and features original music by Shahen Hagobian. Plus, there’s a 5-foot Egyptian serpent puppet called Apep, courtesy of puppet master Douglas Wright.
There are six performances of Warrior Queen, scheduled from Nov. 5-18 at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, California, with the promise of some school presentations as well. Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with LaManna about the new show. She is the founding artistic director of Imagine Theatre, and she directed the debut production of the company, 2019’s The Tale of Turandot. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Where did the idea for Warrior Queen Anahit the Brave come from? When did you first encounter the fairy tale that the show is based on?
After I had kids, I started to read … different fairy tales to them and came across Aghayan’s Anahit then. The moment I read it, I knew I was going to adapt it into a play. Ghazaros Aghayan wrote this tale as an ode to rug weaving and never [imagined] that she would be a feminist hero. But here we are, producing a new musical about just that — a peasant who became queen and then became a warrior. We need stories like this. Even in 2022, women are still fighting for equity, dignity and accessibility.
Are you hoping the story empowers younger audience members?
Indeed. Many girls, even in such a progressive state such as California, come from families that don’t have expectations [for] those girls other than a domestic life. We’re hoping that stories like this shatter and jar long-standing and honestly entirely outdated values. We want to inspire girls to aspire and the boys to learn about just how valuable parity is in society, how they benefit from it. A society can only thrive when all members of that society have the opportunity to equally participate in it. Sadly, there are girls who don’t even dream about doing great things because they were never encouraged to think that way. Storytelling is very powerful — after all, it can cause people to change their mind. It can teach empathy. So, here we are, championing young audiences through sophisticated and magical programming.
What would you say is the best age range for the show?
Imagine Theatre is dedicated to creating work for kids in elementary school — the 5 to 12-age group.
What is the largest challenge when creating theater for younger audiences? How do you get into the mindset of someone who may be experiencing theater for the first time?
You got that part very right — “for the first time.” There are 2.2 million kids in L.A. County, and for the vast majority, a trip to our show is their first visit to a live theater. The challenge for creating theater for young audiences is getting parents to bring their kids. Obstacles can be financial, or the parents simply don’t see the value in exposing their children to live theater. Building an audience is an enormous endeavor for all theaters, but when it comes to young audiences, it’s even more difficult because we are competing with kids’ schools, after-school activities, exhausted parents, and of course we are competing with mobile screen time. It’s so much easier to allow your child to sit on the mobile screen rather than to get dressed, drive to a theater, pay for parking and have an outside-of-the-home experience, not to say anything even about ticket prices.
But the live experience is essential to how these kids grow up and who they become. The live arts are an important ingredient of rearing and childhood. We are after all the springboard to the live experience, and we help mold emotional intelligence. If there ever was a time when kids (and even adults) needed help in this area — boy, that’s now.
Do you hope the show has a life beyond these upcoming performances?
I do, very much. Shahen Hagobian (my composer) and I have plans to recreate this musical in other forms, including animation. Ha! Dream big or go home, right?!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Warrior Queen Anahit the Brave will play Nov. 5-18 at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, California. The Imagine Theatre production is written and directed by Armina LaManna. Click here for more information and tickets.
