Premiered in Los Angeles, in 1987, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, by the Experimental Theatre Company.
Directed by Vahe Berberian. Produced by Betty Berberian.
Original cast: Maurice Kouyoumdjian, Seta Mardirossian, Sako Berberian, Ara Madzounian, Nayiri Isahakian, Narbeh Nazarian, Salpi Yardemian, Vahe Berberian.
The play is about a young man, Ara, who after 14 years in the United States, returns to Lebanon in 1986 to visit his family. There he finds that his sister has had a nervous breakdown because of the war and is hospitalized in an insane asylum. Ara’s friend, Edik, an Iranian Armenian, comes to Lebanon with him, to convince an Armenian girl whom he had met and fallen in love with in Los Angeles, to return with him to America.
The Long Voyage Back Home
Asbarez
S.S.
“…The play’s memorable scenes – and there are many – are performed with such abandon and exquisite naturalness, that some in the audience believed that they were witnessing improvisations, although every word uttered was scripted by the deft hand of the author.”
Thoughts After the Play
Asbarez
Mariam
Diogenes…Armenians…Indians…Lebanon…What do they have in common…nothing…everything…scenes from a play…no…scenes from my conversations…your conversations…their conversations…anger…tears…why was I in pain when laughing…a conversation with my conscience…Vahe Berberian…honest…sincere…smart…no…arrogant…how dare he make me question without supplying answers…or…was it answered by Ara…or Salpy…or…”Bedig”…Hitler…Mother Earth…homeland…what does it all mean…damn it…someone give me the answers…why…of course…how childish…how stupid…answers are always found…in…quicksand…or are they…
An Experiment in Recovery
The Armenian Observer
Arpi Sarafian
“…The Armenian Experimental Theatre’s recent production of Quicksand at the Ensamble Studio Theatre in Hollywood is evidence that some of us still think and feel, but more importantly, have enough courage to carry out experiments in the recovery of “paradise.”
“…Quicksand is an alarm to shake us into consciousness before we sink into total disintegration, so perilously close to we are to the bottom.”
