Night Over Erzinga

An Armenian Family's Story of Survival and Reconciliation

Written by award winning playwright, Adriana Sevahn Nichols, Night Over Erzinga tells the moving story of an immigrant family of Armenian and Dominican heritage. The play explores how a man can lose everything but his heart, and how a grandmother can reach through time to unearth the untold story, and bring her children "home." Spanning two continents and three generations — from Western Armenia of 1913 to 1930's Massachusetts to 1960's New York — ancestors are reunited with the living, as they each search for solace and a way to make peace with the past.

Inspired by the playwright's family history, this tender epic spans generations and countries in a fluid and magical narrative, directed by international artist, Hafiz Karmali, and scored with original music by Bulgarian composer, Penka Kouneva. The set was designed by award-winning Mikiko Uesugi.

"How did my grandfather lose two families in one lifetime but not lose his heart?" was the question that began Adriana's two-year journey to develop Night Over Erzinga, the inaugural commission of the prestigious Middle East America Award.

A world premiere, Night Over Erzinga was performed September 15 through October 9, 2011, at the South Side Theatre, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco.