Vanadzor Puppet Theatre

About

In 1992, actor Sergey Melikyan and a group of enthusiasts turned a Soviet-era flower shop into a puppet theatre. The curtain first opened two years later with Tumanyan’s “The Dog and the Cat.” In the years that followed, the theatre toured villages and towns across the region, took part in international festivals, and visited Armenian communities abroad.
Sevak Sargsyan became its artistic director and director in 2020. The theatre traditionally works with rod puppets. After it reopened in 2021, it staged “Doctor Aibolit,” its first production with floor puppets, where actors and puppets share the stage in full view. In 2022 it marked its 30th anniversary with a new staging of “How the Dog and the Cat Quarrelled.” For that anniversary the municipality fully rebuilt the building; during the works the theatre performed at the Charles Aznavour Palace of Culture.