It has already been more than a year since actor Vigen Stepanyan has
returned to Armenia from Beirut. Currently, he is the director of the
“Metro” theatre. According to V. Stepanyan, there is a lot of
indifference towards culture nowadays and that indifference is
spreading towards artists. “Everyone should learn their lesson after
what happened with the dance groups,”says V. Stepanyan. “It is
ridiculous to hear that an artist like Vilen Galstyan has temporarily
been appointed as a director. The Minister of Culture should think
about being a provisional minister because he is the one working as a
typical worker. How many Vilen Galstyans do we have…..I can say the
same about Armen Meliksetyan who was the owner of the Chamber Musical
Theatre. Currently, the owner of the theatre is a member of the
“Orinats Yerkir” (Lawful Land) political party. You get the impression
that one scandal starts after another. I don’t know how many more
scandals there have to be in order for our superstars to wake up and
see what is going on. This indifference is making us crazy and killing
us. Artur Baghdasaryan raised the reputation of the “Orinats Yerkir”
(Lawful Land) political party during the election campaign through his
speeches and as a result he got admitted into the National Assembly.
The people surrounding him lowered the same reputation that he had
gained. I am amazed to see that he does not notice that the people that
he trusts are playing around with him and the reputation of the
political party. They are doing this for their interests and to solve
their personal problems. Those people are discrediting the party and
the political party should take care of its problems. It should not be
involved in art”. We asked Mr. Stepanyan if there were any signs of
feeling unimportant as an Armenian artist. He gave the following
answer: “There is a television set that costs $1000 dollars, and one
that costs $200 dollars. It is obvious that a $200 dollar television
set can be anything, but we know that a Panasonic is a Panasonic. It
has high quality. If your salary is 15-20,000 dram, then you obviously
can not buy that television set and thus you have low-self esteem. You
are getting a salary that is equivalent to the price of ordering some
things at a cafe. Why do so many artists become “prostitutes”? It is
because the person who gives them the money tells them what to do. You
get the money, good, now what do I have to do? Should I raise my left
or right leg?…. It is possible that the person wants to say something
else. That does not matter anymore. You do not give him the opportunity
to create. The least he can be is a typical performer. Take a look at
the television programs of today. The sponsor for the program says that
those jokes should be made but the sponsor is making the people watch
what he wants. For many, this is unacceptable. I have not grown tired
from the struggle, but I still get energy and stimulation from doing my
artistic work. At the present, there is no creative work in the
struggle.”
In the actor’s words, if he loses hope of remodeling the “Metro”
theatre, then he has to occupy himself with doing nothing. “I do not
need the title of artistic director, it is senseless to call me
director of a theatre when I am really not and I don’t need a big chair
to sit on. I am not 25 years old and full of energy. That has its
limits. I must create and do the thing which pleases me. If that does
not work out, then I will leave for Beirut.”
What was the reason for Vigen Stepanyan leaving Armenia when the
“Metro” theatre was doing well during those years? “There was a type of
environment in the theatre that came out of nowhere and it was not too
familiar to me. I could not be the director of a theatre which I did
not like anymore. It is just not the same and has nothing to do with
your dreams and aspirations. It was pointless. After all, I had not
created that theatre to be in the big chair. My goal was to create an
art center with new vigor, new handprint, new style. A theatre which
would give meaning to everything. I was new, it was something new for
me, and I was at least letting some mistakes pass by. A director can
not always be a friend and caring person,” says Mr. Stepanyan. Vigen
Stepanyan created the “Metro” theatre and then left for Beirut. Now he
has returned to re-establish the theatre but finds it in a terrible
status. “The people who ruined the theatre were the people not involved
in culture and people in poverty, which has led artists of today to
their end. Everything is unacceptable at first sight, but then it all
becomes clear and logical,” says V. Stepanyan. “The people in charge of
the “Pos” theatre sold it and stayed out on the streets for half a
year. Then they asked me to take the job as artistic director at the
theatre. One of the requirements was that the theatres of “Metro” and
“Pos” were not to be united as one because “Metro” belonged to the
Ministry of Education and Sciences and “Pos” was part of the Ministry
of Culture. The “Pos” theatre had all the necessary staff members, but
the “Metro” theatre had neither an actor nor a director. The theatre
also didn’t have staff to sell tickets for the plays. So basically, the
“Pos” theatre was going to hold rehearsals at the building of the
“Metro” theatre and the esthetics center. I must add that Mr. H.
Igityan was giving the building for free. However, our newly elected
Minister of Culture Hovik Hoveyan sent me a manager from the village by
the name of Edward Hakobyan who started demanding things starting from
the first couple of days (a cabinet, a secretary…) I was forced to
get rid of him. He obviously went and complained to Hovik Hoveyan and
then the “Pos” theatre staff announced as a whole that they did not
need to have an artistic director. There is some mistake here. Today,
the artistic director of theatre can become the owner, or someone who
has entirely nothing to do with art can become the president of the
artistic counsel, the director of a theatre, etc. They appoint their
representative from the political party. As soon as that person comes
he starts giving orders and protecting his rights. I think that Gurgen
Sedrakyan and Azat Gasparyan are blamed for selling the theatre but the
same staff working there would do that if it had the opportunity. The
reason for that is because the staff is dishonest. They are people who
work not only with moral principles, but rather for their own
interests. Recently, a new decision was made and now the theatre has an
artistic director. Thank God, they have finally started to get the
picture.”
Nowadays the “Metro” theatre is being re-established thanks to the
combined efforts of the city and district councils. In addition, the
Prime Minister is also involved. The “Linsie” Foundation has promised
to remodel the theatre during the second stage of the project on
remodeling cultural structures. During the past ten years, Vigen
Stepanyan has done a wide range of activities in Beirut. He has managed
to create a National Cultural Association which is probably the only
professional children/youth acting group which has perfomed in Armenia,
Karabagh and Syria. “The decision of returning to Armenia was mine, but
I did not imagine that the economic situation was like this. When I
found out how much they pay here, I could not totally understand what
was going on. How could an actor get 5-7,000 dram for his work? By the
way, my salary consists of 8,300 drams and some extra money. I don’t
know how the government sees this. I found out from somewhere that the
salary of the Vice Minister and department chiefs consists of
150-180,000 drams. So, it turns out that the artistic director of the
theatre does not buy food, does not smoke or have children of his own.
Who decides how much money we are supposed to get paid? These are
serious issues and if they are not solved at the state level, then in
the near future we will be faced with problems. No matter how much you
dedicate yourself to art, you have to at least have some dignity and
realize that your work needs to be taken into account for. How can they
pay 15-20,000 drams to an actor, and only 30-32,000 to a popular
artist. This means that the actor who puts his life into acting is
evaluated by $50-60 dollars. Actors have to be treated differently,”
says Vigen Stepanyan.
In any case, the “Metro” theatre has started to funcion. Currently it
is involved in the musical “The Cat and the Dog”. The music for the
play is by Forsh and the play is written by Vigen Stepanyan. Vigen
Stepanyan is directing a new play called “Sorry” which he will also
play in.
