There’s an element to the story of Red Dog Howls that exists uniquely in response to the Armenian diaspora—how Michael,


the protagonist,


reconnects with the Armenian culture that Rose has essentially preserved. Do you connect to this experience?


AD: Armenians are so wide-spread. The diaspora sent Armenians to Paris, there's a huge community. Boston, there's a giant community. LosAngeles. Iran. Lebanon. Greece, of course. A huge populace of Armenians. And they brought their culture with them, and they don't let it disappear. Somy cousins went through Armenian dance school, and Armenian language school. And there's a great deal of pride and tradition. But now Armenians are so massively spread out, and you find these cities unto themselves. If you go to Los Angeles to Little Armenia, it's an entire living and breathing Armenian community inside of a very “LosAngeles,” very American surrounding. Which is fascinating. And the story of the play, in away,was away forme to pry into my Armenian-ness, as it were, and the immediate kinship that I felt. Smells that I didn't quite remember, because I was separated from my Armenian grandmother when she died when I was very young. But walking into those homes! People would inviteme into their homes after they came to the workshop production in L.A., and I walked in and the same smell, the same textures, and colors, and I just felt, "Some part of me belongs here. It's amazing." And it's amazing to feel that as a second- generation American. All of my grandparents emigrated here. I have one fromCuba,mymother's father. My mother's mother was from Puerto Rico, my father's father was Albanian and my father's mother was Armenian. But prying into this one corner of my life, I immediately felt connected in a way that I never would have if I didn't write this play, or if I didn't search for whatever that was in myself.


Would you say Red Dog Howls is a political play?


AD: I nevermeant towrite a political or a genocide play, as it were. That just happens to be the event that falls in the background.


The Turkish government still denies to this day that the Armenian Genocide happened. There aremany who don't deny that something happened, that an atrocity happened, but they'll claim that it was the


atrocities ofwar and that the violence took place on both sides. And I'm not even interested in that debate. I've seen enough information to tellme that this happened to a lot of people.


My grandmother, when I was young, would tell me stories. But most of the Armenians I knew didn't talk about it verymuch. It was almost the opposite of peoplewho had been through theHolocaust,who made sure at all costs that it would be heard and remembered. The Armenians I knew were much more quiet about it. But then there were times whenmy grandmotherwould just talk tome about horrible things. I remember being very young, and speaking about horrible things that happened.


I'mnot interested, in this case, in talking aboutwho believes that the genocide happened, orwho denies it. That is for nations and politicians and diplomats to debate. I've seen enough. I've heard enough from my own family to know that these horrible things happened, and in the case of Red Dog Howls, it's an event that happened. It's not a political statement. I have no animosity towards Turkish peoplewho live now, just like I have nothing against Germans who live now. That would be ridiculous. This is something that happened a hundred years ago.


What do you hope audience members will take away fromRed Dog Howls?


AD: I hope that people come away from this play with a heightened degree of empathy. I think that, with this play, I'mtalking about the ripple-effect of violence. I'm not talking about geo-politics. I'm talking about howan act or a history of violence can replicate itself through generation after generation after generation. And it would be presumptuous of me to finish the play in a way where I said, "Here's how you get over genocide." If I put a cap on it and said, "Okay, nowMichael, the protagonist, is healed, and we will move on together." That would be me saying that for anybody who's been through this, whether you're Jewish, or Armenian, or Rwandan, that there's an end to it. I don't know if there's an end to it. What I do know is that things can get better as generations progress. You can learn fromit and keep it.And the intention of this play, the ending of this play, is to saywe put the painful past to gentle rest andwemove onwith the lessons. So I hope that people understand that message and understand thatwasmy intention.


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