Within a bleak and fading Armenian retirement home – where the ages of residents range from 60 to over 90 – a theatre director sets about casting for his ensemble production of ‘Shakespeare’s Sins.’ While in the play, we see how Shakespeare’s characters call him to account for their tragic fates, the documentary equally offers a chance to delve into the diverse and complex lives of this aged community.
Co-directed by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan, the loosely staged story is set against the delicate political position within the country (television and radio news broadcasts often linger in the background) as casting and rehearsal lead to poignant conversations about love, life and loss.
While the rich and varied community within the home are a fascinating bunch, it is often the Soviet-era home itself that is the most provocative and intriguing character. With its faded and peeling walls; muted murals and battered furniture, the home is packed with elderly people smoking, playing chess and snooker (one woman in a wheelchair uses her walking stick instead of a cue), and small cats who chase around the building. In stark juxtaposition, a white care robot trundles around the corridors.
Led by 66-year-old Garnik Seyranyan, the Tarmani Theatre Group has bold plans for the production, initially recruiting the charming Suren Poghosyan to play Shakespeare. The group share their stories. One elderly woman whispers “I had 100 lovers,” as the cast talk about Romeo and Juliet and their own first loves.
As the oddball group gradually grows closer, the film balances the onstage tragedies with the residents’ own lives, which naturally enough also feature love, betrayal, mourning, and exile. One resident finds and loses her Romeo. Raya is chosen to compose the music for the production. Another resident is cast out by her own son. Gayane — who briefly returns to her home in Artsakh (the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh) after the ceasefire within the ongoing war — has to return to the retirement home following the forced displacement of the entire Armenian population. Meanwhile, wheelchair-bound Nazik Mkrtchyan eventually replaces Suren (who professes to adore his partner Rosa, before heading to Russia to be with his ex-wife).
All of which reflects the subtext of the film. Initially it appears a light-hearted examination of elderly folk in a ramshackle home but soon morphs into an exploration of the loneliness and loss that so often accompany the aging process.
Outliving Shakespeare is gently illuminating rather than tough viewing – the conditions at the home are clearly very poor, and the tender film favours whimsy and delicate humour over anger and recrimination.
Ghazaryan previously collaborated with Inna Sahakyan on her animated feature Aurora’s Sunrise as both editor and live-action shooting director. Inna’s film was Armenia’s 2023 entry for the best international feature film Oscar.
Armenia-Netherlands, 2025, 94mins
Dirs: Inna Sahakyan, Ruben Ghazaryan
Production: Bars Media, BIND
Producers: Vardan Hovhannisyan, Joram Willink, Esther van Driesum Rosalien Hollestelle
Scr: Inna Sahakyan,, Lilit Movsisyan
Cinematography: Bagrat Saroyan
Editor: Artur Sahakyan
With: Garnik Seyranyan. Ararat Baghdasaryan, Julieta Shirakyan, Varazdat Melkonyan, Qnarik Davtyan, Hranush Martitosyan, Laura Ghazaryan, Nora Anagyan, Eduard Karapetyan, Gayane Hakpbyan, Raya Aghajanyan, Sevan Shemsyan, Nazik Mkrtchyan, Suren Poghosyan, Rosa Nazaryan, Ligia Khachatryan, Anahit Keseyan
