Zabel in Exile

Boston Playwrights' Theatre
949 Commonwealth Ave Boston

Yerevan, 1937. Armenian writer and activist Zabel Yessayan sits in a Soviet prison cell, awaiting execution. But what exactly is her crime? Writing novels? Knowing how to speak French? Being a woman? As Zabel confronts her captors, past and present blur, and she reckons with the injustices she has witnessed and confronted?from schoolyard bullying to the horrors of genocide. Zabel in Exile is a searing memory play that honors the strength of a woman unafraid to stand up to tyranny and wrestles with whether it is possible to continue to believe in light during times of endless darkness.

Thru - Mar 8, 2026

Zabel in Exile Reviews

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Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...In keeping with Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s commitment to bringing new plays to the stage, Zabel in Exile, by R. N. Sandberg, presents the life of Zabel Yessayan, an Armenian writer and activist born in 1878 and condemned to death by Joseph Stalin in 1943. Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian, who is also the artistic director of the company—and the daughter of the playwright."

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- Lynne Weiss

Zabel in Exile at Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Zabel in Exile

Zabel in Exile Reviews

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

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