Raffi Barsoumian on Embodying the Armenian American Struggle in ‘Meet the Cartozians’

Raffi Barsoumian, of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow fame as Bishop, among other roles, steps into his Armenian heritage in playwright Talenene Monahon’s magnificent play, Meet the Cartozians, currently playing at New York City’s Second Stage Theater until December 14.

Originally set to run until December 7, the extension signifies the play’s already proven success of connecting with audiences, both Armenian and non-Armenian, in its exploration of how Armenians were forced to subsume into whiteness in America, particularly right after the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian Genocide. In his pivotal roles as Vahan Cartozian in 1924 and Nardek Vartoumian, Barsoumian brilliantly showcases the struggles of a visibly brown man acclimating to this new circumstance, and how the Armenian community must reckon with the absurdities of whiteness with his and others’ experiences.

We spoke to Barsoumian about taking on the dual roles, the development of Meet the Cartozians with Monahon and the cast and crew, how the response has been thus far to the play, the responsibility of telling a genocide survivor story, and what he hopes audiences will take from the play writ large. You can find our conversation below.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

NOC: How did the play first come onto your radar, and how did it feel for you first learning about this Armenian American play?

Barsoumian: Well, I had a coffee with Talene Monahon, the writer, she reached out to me and wanted to just connect. And over coffee, she told me about this idea that was percolating in her head about this court case, which I had actually never heard about. And so she told me about this case, and she said this idea was sort of nascent and she had a vague idea of how we would connect from 1924 Portland to today. And so that’s how we started talking about it, and then I got to read, I think, the first draft of the first act, when she finished that, and then did all the subsequent workshops, kind of helping read it, and working with her as she developed it. So, yeah, it’s been on the radar for a while.

That’s great. What was the overall rehearsal experience like? Would you say that you and other Armenian cast members found it to be cathartic?

The rehearsal process was so wonderful, very, very light and fun and easy and collaborative, which, I don’t know that I was fully anticipating going into a play that’s nominally about the Armenian Genocide. So it was that was a pleasant surprise. I think the cast has got on really well. I don’t know if I would call it cathartic. It was, but it was very purposeful. It felt like a big responsibility to sort of get the information right, at the very least, and at best, not turn it into a trauma story and kind of highlight the real humor that I think Talene has put into her writing in order to tackle and explore this subject. So it was more that sense of responsibility. And how do we do this right.

I love that description of it. So on your characters themselves, how much did you find in common with Vahan with your own lived experience?

Yeah, it’s interesting. Vahan felt very recognizable to me in the sense of his desire to just go at this, not through again, not through that, like “Oh, poor Armenians “viewpoint, but just anchor it in a lot of comedy, which I really appreciate.

Totally. How do you feel like the response has been from the Armenian American community?

That’s the thing that made us, I think, the most nervous. You never know who’s gonna take issue with what. And I can say it’s been such a delight to experience really positive feedback, especially because, there’s such little Easter eggs inside the play that are feel very culturally specific, or even area specific. And when we hear those responses to those things in the audience, we know we’re speaking to other Armenians, and they are responding with., They’re responding to the humor. They’re not shy about it, and I think they really, really have been excited to see themselves and to hear their story in such a prominent way on such a prominent stage. So it’s been really gratifying to have that experience.

Yeah, that’s really wonderful. So what do you hope that the non-Armenian audience members take out of the play?

I think while everything I just said about relating to the Armenian community is there, I actually think the play is, more or less, about it’s using the Armenian experience to really talk about whiteness in America. I think the play is an American story, and so that’s been the other interesting thing is to hear from Jewish Americans or other Americans of color, especially in the Middle Eastern community, who are saying, “I identify with that. I understand that I’m now that’s made me reach.” Something that I’m I’ve held on to, so I really think it’s really just that, that’s my hope, that that continues, that the audience has come in, and they’re really being asked to think about, what is whiteness? What is this obsession we as Americans have with whiteness? What does it even mean? Who gets to call themselves that?

What do you think is the most valuable thing you’ve taken from this experience, at least so far?

Ah, great. Question, yeah, what have I taken from it? I mean, besides the really, truly wonderful and gratifying professional experience getting to work with Tony winners and really terrific actors and learning from them and our fantastic director, besides all of that, it forced me to look at the history that I knew with a little bit more specificity with a little more detail. And I’ve learned a great deal about that history that had sort of been, Oh yes, I know the hazy facts around that or that, but having to look into the specific communities that were affected in the eastern Ottoman Empire and to sort of try and wrap my head around the scale of the loss that has been really eye opening, heartbreaking. I don’t know. It’s an interesting thing with any of these mass atrocity actions, the genocide. This attempt to wipe people out. Now, when you really hear about that, all you can think is but we survive, and that creates, a great deal of pride, and not false pride, and not in a boastful way, but it just, I don’t know, I’m left looking at it and going, “There is purpose here.” There’s a purpose to continuing and to telling that story and to knowing about it. Yeah, it’s done a lot.