Vahe Berberian

Vahe Berberian is an Armenian playwright, novelist, monologist, visual artist, director, actor and comedian, born on 11 July 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Armenian parents who had survived the Armenian genocide. As a teenager he toured Europe with a UNESCO international theatre program, and after returning to Lebanon he worked as a graphic artist until civil war forced him to leave the country. He spent a year in Toronto before settling in Los Angeles, where he earned a degree in journalism and worked as a journalist into the early 1990s while continuing to paint, act and direct.

After settling in Los Angeles in 1977, Berberian co-founded the Armenian Experimental Theatre and wrote, directed, acted in and produced numerous Armenian-language stage productions, including "Pink Elephant," "Quicksand," "Baron Garbis" and "Gyank," works later translated into six languages and staged internationally. He is best known for his comedic monologues performed in Armenian, among them "Yevaylen," "Nayev," "Dagaveen," "Sagayn," "Yete," "Ooremn" and "Payts," blending observational humor with cultural commentary. Berberian has also published several novels, including "Letters from Zaatar" (1996) and "Diary of a Dead Man" (2021), has exhibited his visual art in more than 30 shows worldwide, and co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the 2016 film "3 Weeks in Yerevan."