Christmas Revels

To Celebrate the Culture of Armenia and Modern-day Georgia

By Susie Davidson

CORRESPONDENT

The beauty and tradition of Armenian and modern-day Georgian culture will be authentically and magically revisted in the 32nd annual Christmas Revels, beginning Dec. 13 and continuing through Dec. 29 at Sanders Theatre.

The production”s 80-member cast will re-create traditional folk music, dance, songs and rituals from this ancient region of the world, where civilizations crossed and culture was abundantly transcendent.

Actresses Paula Plum (pre-Christmas performances) and Rena Baskin (post-Christmas) will serve as guides through the program, which will begin at the start of a new world, as Noah”s Ark rests atop Mt. Ararat following the flood. Armenian singer Haig Faniants will play the 18th-century Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova (“King of Songs”), personifying a musical link between the two geographical regions. Other cast entities will include The Ararat Chorus, The Pomegranate Children, The Solstice Mummers, The Pinewoods Morris Men, The Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble, and circus performer Sam Johnson, who are set to acrobatically walk the “Tightrope of Order and Chaos,” a rite performed at Armenian New Year festivals.

The Arev Armenian Folk Ensemble, featuring traditional Armenian wind, string and percussion instruments, are sure to delight, and Revels mainstay David Coffin will facilitate audience participation by teaching songs and at the end of Act I, leading the assembled through the aisles, dancing to the Revels signature piece “Lord of the Dance.” The run will encompass 18 performances.

The non-profit cultural organization Revels, Inc. stages yearly productions such as The Spring Revels, honoring the vernal equinox and May Day, The Midsummer Revels, performed annually in Boston, and The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice, which is performed in 12 cities across the U.S. each year. Cast members, who include professional and volunteer non-professional singers, dancers, and storytellers children, adults and seniors, carry out the group’s mission of commemorating the changing of the seasons and the cycles of human life as it perpetuates the traditional music, dance, drama and rituals of international cultures. Founded in 1971 by musician and educator John Langstaff, Revels' colorful, diverse and grand-scale efforts, which include music theater, educational programs, recordings, publications and community events, foster community awareness, appreciation and understanding on a national level.

"For many," said Cambridge author and frequent Revels collaborator Susan Cooper, "Revels answers that submerged yearning for ritual and for the markings of ancient landmarks in human life. Through Revels productions, one begins to understand that the same great river of myth, story and song has fed all cultures throughout the ages."

Local enthusiasm and effort backed this year”s effort. "This production was very special for us,” said Revels Marketing Director Alan Casso, “because our offices are based in Watertown, which has an enormous Armenian population.” The group had discussed such an initiative in the past; this year, it came to fruition. “Things fell into place for us rapidly,” Casso continued, “with the help and encouragement of the Armenian community in general and specifically with aid from the Armenian Library and Museum of America's staff in Watertown, The Armenian Cultural Center, and many other individuals and organizations who also felt that this program was important.”

The Christmas Revels production staff includes Patrick Swanson, Director; George Emlen, Music Director; Virginia D. Morton, Producer; J. Milo Lanoue, Production Manager; Andrew Barnett, Technical Director; John Ambrosone, Lighting Designer; Jeremy Barnett, Set Designer; and Heidi Hermiller, Costume Designer. The program is supported, in part, by the Massachusetts Cultural Council; authentic Oriental rugs featured in the production will be provided by Noor Oriental Rugs in Cambridge.

“It's a very special Christmas Revels, indeed,” said Casso. “It”s full of beautiful music and winter customs that will be new to many in our audience - but the production is also laden with the familiar carols, poetry and audience participation that Revellers have grown to know and love, and that are now part of the Revels tradition itself."

For more information on The Christmas Revels and other Revels productions, please visit www.revels.org or call 617-972-8300.

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The 32nd Christmas Revels, Celebrating the Solstice with Music, Dance and Folk Plays from Armenia and Georgia, Dec. 13-29 at Sanders Theatre.

Tickets, available at the Harvard Box Office in the Holyoke Center Arcade, are $18, $28 and $40 for adults and $12, $20 and $32 for children under 12. All seating is reserved. Please call 617-492-2222 for performance times. Free parking is available at the Broadway Garage, located two blocks from the theatre. 

For information, please call 617-496-2222 between noon and 6 p.m. daily, or visit http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~tickets/.