I Wish to Die Singing: Voices from the Armenian Genocide
Finborough Theatre, London SW10
3/5

A MUTED silence is not perhaps the desired reaction at the end of a 90-minute piece of theatre but it could not have been more appropriate at the conclusion of I Wish to Die Singing.

Marking the centenary of the horrors suffered by the Armenian people from April 1915 onwards at the hands of the Ottomans in Turkey, the play is an urgent and direct call for universal recognition that what took place was indeed genocide.

Despite clear evidence that over a million Armenians were systematically tortured and killed, many countries including Britain and successive Ankara governments have stubbornly refused to use the term genocide. Neil McPherson’s documentary-drama aims to change minds about that.

This is no easy task in a theatre above a pub in affluent west London but, as a well-rounded and extremely powerful account of what took place, it’s mission accomplished.

The harrowing testimonies of survivors delivered candidly by Tamar Karabetyan, Bevan Celestine and Siu-See Hung, are particularly disturbing, as is an extended account voiced by Tom Marshall in which he reminds the audience that: “You can’t be a true witness if you survived.”

Yet, as the play mutates into a call for action, it loses its theatricality and its pathos is diluted.

The accusation could be made that this misses the point but the case for contemporary recognition could have been made in a more succinct fashion, thus galvanising audiences to act.

Instead, a lecture-style presentation — more appropriate, surely, as programme notes — on the current position of different nations and a tedious reading of live-feed tweets relating to the genocide ensues sap the energy from Tommo Fowler’s otherwise intense production.

Even so, the importance of this play cannot be denied and the stunned reaction of the audience at the conclusion is a clear testament to its persuasive power.

Runs until May 16, box office: finboroughtheatre.co.uk