Guests of all ages had the opportunity to meet beloved actor Hrant Tokhatyan at the COAF SMART Center recently. The gathering was part of our SMARTConnects series of ongoing special events held at the COAF SMART Center featuring prominent figures from various fields.
Attendees were surprised to discover that Tokhatyan started his career as a teacher of Russian language and literature in the village of Oshakan. The choice between continuing to teach or becoming an actor was one of the most difficult ones for him. “After teaching for a decade, it was difficult to admit my love for theater outweighed that for teaching,” recalled the actor.
Yet in many ways, the ‘teacher’ continues to live inside Tokhatyan, since he never misses any opportunity to engage with children. He recently launched a “smart books” project with friends.
Certain life events aren’t always planned, and this was the case in the career path for Tokhatyan. He recalled how he was encouraged to play a particular role, and after that performance, he became an actor by chance.
Tokhatyan also touched upon the relationship between smart technologies and theater. The actor stated he believes technologies will not negatively impact theater, but rather provide unlimited opportunities and increased creativity. Being on the stage for 43 years, Tokhatyan strongly believes that theater will remain popular as long as humankind continues to peep through the doors and windows of others.
