Support the World Premiere of AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf) by Hakawati

Producers: Bill Pullman, Noubar and Anna Afeyan

Board Members: Daniel Derian, Raffi Niziblian

by Sona Tatoyan in collaboration with Jared Mezzocchi
directed by Jared Mezzocchi
featuring Sona Tatoyan, a tribe of 120 year old Karagöz Puppets, and oud player Ara Dinkjian

Syrian-Armenian-American theatre and film artist Sona Tatoyan, stranded in her family’s abandoned Aleppo home during the Syrian war, discovers her great-great-grandfather’s handmade Karagöz shadow puppets, salvaged from the Armenian Genocide. Guided by the storyteller Scherazad, the puppets unveil bawdy, hilarious, and haunting tales that transport Sona through an intergenerational, psychedelic journey, alchemizing a radiant truth: stories, when reimagined, possess the power to transmute trauma to healing.

A bit about our work at Hakawati

In Middle Eastern cultures, the Hakawati–or storyteller in Arabic– has long been a cornerstone of society. They understood that storytelling was, and continues to be, a vital force for survival. Their tales weave together the threads of our shared humanity: educating, healing, uniting, and connecting us across every fracture. 

Karagöz shadow puppetry, an ancient shamanistic art form designated by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage and emblematic of multicultural co-existence, sits at the heart of several of our projects at Hakawati. Inspired by the over century old collection of Abkar Knadjian, an Armenian Genocide survivor and puppeteer, his great-great granddaughter Sona Tatoyan, storyteller and founder of Hakawati, now shares his work of illumination and the spirit of his resilience with the world. 

Here is some material for you tolearn more about our work.

• Teaser of AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf)

• Sona Tatoyan Civilnet Interview, August 2024 "The Places we are Broken could be our Greatest Source of Empowerment" 

*For those willing to make a more substantial donation and become more engaged with our project, it is possible to host a call with our Board members to learn about various sponsorship levels.

Hakawati NGO integrates the work of professional artists, renowned spiritual teachers, innovators, scientists, and therapists with a commitment to transform trauma through authentic storytelling. Hakawati is a non-profit organization that accepts donations globally. USA donors can make use of its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status (EIN #83-1664484)