The Weight of Repopulating a Nation is a one-woman autobiographical performance documenting the playwright’s journey as she uncovers her own and her community’s story, inviting the viewer to share in her growing understanding of the importance of heritage and the weight of responsibility she feels to share the story of her ancestors.
The author
Leianna Boodaghians is a writer of Armenian heritage. She graduated from LIPA with a degree in community drama in 2016 and in 2018 completed the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Playwrights’ Programme. She is a mum of two and has a passion for creating and performing her own work. Leianna was inspired by reading Unprotected (Everyman 2006) to write plays that she feels need to be heard, and to create conversation.
Leianna was also commissioned to write alongside Lizzie Nunnery for the lantern festival as part of WoW Fest Liverpool’s Light Night. It was a short story about light, displacement, home and belonging.
This play is autobiographical, it contains elements of verbatim records, interviews, research journals, documentaries, books, and the internet. A scene in the play is taken from documentary ‘Grandma’s Tattoos’ by Suzanne Khardalian.
