About Us

arten/արդեն is an independent theatre and a laboratory of contemporary performing practice in Yerevan. We work with the urgent themes of our time, direct speech and the laboratory form, combining theatre, performance and education.

The Name

Արդեն means “already” in Armenian. The name joins the Latin and Armenian alphabets — a sign of the theatre's internationality. The theatre was born in a space of the minimal size from which a place can begin to be called a theatre. Having grown, we kept the name as a reminder of the beginning: “already a theatre”.

History

The theatre's founder Alexander Teterev-Kosach is a director and actor who came from independent apartment theatre. That experience shaped the approach: freedom of form, closeness to the audience and personal responsibility for the artistic statement.

After the war began it became clear where work could continue. In 2022, together with co-founder Diana Manukyan, he opened a theatre in Yerevan as a space of free expression — without censorship, open in form and content. The laboratory became the theatre's way of existing.

The theatre changed address twice while keeping its company and repertoire: Orbeli Brothers St 63/1 — the Lepota art space in Jrvezh — the current stage at 2 Lusinyants St.

The Audience

Our audience are people interested in contemporary theatre (14+, no children's shows yet). A couple of thousand spectators have seen our work so far. Accidental visitors come too — and that contact matters to us especially.

Founded: September 2022

Legal status: N/A

We've done a lot — the whole story in the Chronicle →

Manifesto

01
We speak directly — about what matters now, without censorship or self-censorship.
02
We allow ourselves to make mistakes: the product is always the result of an experiment.
03
We join cultural codes: the Latin and Armenian alphabets in our name are no accident.
04
We work without a fixed hierarchy: everyone enters the process on the grounds of personal responsibility, mutual respect and the capacity for dialogue.
05
We do not believe questions of aesthetics can be resolved separately from questions of ethics.
06
We do not impose art — we support processes already happening in Armenia.
07
We build a third way between state theatre and theatre-as-business: an independent social structure where projects that fit neither frame become possible.