Arts: June and July 2026

This summer, audiences in London will have a unique opportunity to explore Armenian and Caucasian cultural heritage through a remarkable series of theatre and film events.

From the UK premiere of Don Askarian’s Komitas and Sergei Parajanov’s visionary The Legend of Suram Fortress to Richard Kalinoski’s acclaimed play Beast on the Moon, these productions offer powerful reflections on memory, identity, displacement, and artistic resilience. Through cinema and theatre, they bring to life stories shaped by history while speaking to contemporary audiences about loss, survival, and the enduring strength of human creativity.

Presented by leading cultural organisations including the Armenian Film Society London, Pushkin House, Klassiki, and Arches Lane Theatre, these events celebrate the richness of Armenian artistic expression and its connections to the wider cultural landscape of the Caucasus and beyond.

ARCHES LANE THEATRE PRESENTS: BEAST ON THE MOON BY RICHARD KALINOSKI

Arches Lane Theatre is delighted to present Beast on the Moon by Richard Kalinoski, a powerful and deeply moving production supported by Arts Council England. This acclaimed drama explores love, loss, resilience, and the enduring psychological impact of genocide.

Inspired by harrowing true events, Beast on the Moon follows the story of Aram, an Armenian immigrant and genocide survivor, and Seta, his teenage mail-order bride. Brought together under difficult circumstances, the couple share one tragic experience in common, though it shapes them in profoundly different ways.

At once intimate and epic, the story unfolds with moments of humour, irony, and bittersweet surprise. It ultimately becomes a universal exploration of hope, healing, redemption, and love in the aftermath of unimaginable loss.

Creative Team & Cast
Director: Persia Babayan-Taylor
Performers: Henry Avedian, Mariam Koloyan
Performer / Producer: Harun Ćehović
Producer: Stasha Dukic
Costume Designer: Rosalba Mensah

This production brings together an international team of theatre-makers from the UK, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Italy, with alumni backgrounds from leading institutions including RADA, RCSSD, and Rose Bruford College.

SCREENING UK PREMIERE OF KOMITAS AT THE ICA, LONDON

We are delighted to invite you to a very special screening organised by the Armenian Film Society London and the Armenian Heritage Month campaign, presenting the long-overdue UK premiere of Komitas, the haunting and unconventional film by acclaimed director Don Askarian.

📍 Venue: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London SW1Y 5AH
📅 Date: Sunday, 5 July
🕗 Time: 6:00 PM
🎬 Running Time: 96 minutes
🗣️ Language: Armenian and German with English subtitles
🎟️ Tickets: Available via the ICA website

Dedicated to one of Armenia’s most significant cultural figures, Komitas tells the story of Komitas Vardapet—the pioneering composer, ethnomusicologist and priest whose work preserved and transformed Armenian musical heritage. Komitas was among the Armenian intellectuals arrested and deported on 24 April 1915, an event that marked the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.

Born in Stepanakert and educated in Moscow, director Don Askarian emigrated to West Berlin in the late 1970s after spending time in a Soviet prison. Widely regarded as a missing link between the cinematic worlds of Tarkovsky and Parajanov, Askarian creates a deeply personal and visually arresting portrait of Komitas. Echoing the dreamlike introspection of Tarkovsky’s Mirror while embracing the richly symbolic tableaux associated with Parajanov, the film offers a unique and innovative approach to the biographical genre.

Through striking imagery and poetic storytelling, the film explores the devastating impact of the events of 1915 and their lasting consequences on one of Armenia’s greatest cultural pioneers.

The screening will be introduced by Armenian Film Society London curators Kira Adibekov and Tatevik Ayvazyan.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience an extraordinary cinematic tribute to one of Armenia’s most influential cultural pioneer.

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SERGEI PARAJANOV’S THE LEGEND OF SURAM FORTRESS

We are delighted to invite you to a special screening of Sergei Parajanov’s celebrated masterpiece The Legend of Suram Fortress, presented by Pushkin House and Klassiki. The screening will be followed by a conversation and Q&A featuring Kira Adibekov of the Armenian Film Society London and Samuel Goff, Editorial Director at Klassiki.

📍 Venue: The Garden Cinema, Covent Garden

39–41 Parker Street, London WC2B 5PQ

📅 Date: Saturday, 11 July 2026
🕗 Time: 5:00 PM
🎬 Running Time: 88 minutes, followed by a Q&A

🎟️ Tickets: Available via The Garden Cinema website

Marking Sergei Parajanov’s return to filmmaking after 15 years of imprisonment, censorship and creative suppression, The Legend of Suram Fortress is a dazzling reimagining of a beloved Georgian national legend. Dedicated to the struggle for Georgian independence, it is also one of the director’s most politically resonant works.

The film unfolds through two mirrored narratives, weaving together themes of religious identity, sacrifice, unfulfilled love and redemption. At its centre stands the legend of a crumbling fortress that can only be saved if a young man is entombed within its walls. Through this timeless story, Parajanov explores the enduring relationship between individual destiny and collective memory.

Renowned for his singular visual style, Parajanov draws on folklore, traditional music and the aesthetics of medieval painting to create a succession of living tableaux rich in symbolism and poetic beauty. The result is a cinematic experience unlike any other.

Pushkin House, an arts, cultural and social space dedicated to exploring and debating Russian culture and identity today, joins forces with Klassiki, the world’s only streaming platform devoted to the cinema of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, to present this landmark screening of one of world cinema’s most visionary works.

Following the film, audiences are invited to stay for a brief conversation and Q&A with Kira Adibekov of the Armenian Film Society London and Samuel Goff, Editorial Director at Klassiki, discussing Parajanov’s artistic legacy and the film’s enduring cultural and political significance.

We warmly invite you to join us for this rare big-screen presentation and help spread the word about this extraordinary cinematic event.

Armenian Community Council