“My name is Karen, I’m eight-and-a-half years old and I hate myself already.” So says Karine Bedrossian at the start of her 85-minute, one-person play! We are taken back to the 1915 Armenian Genocide when whole families were marched across the Syrian Desert to their death. Those who did not die eventually found themselves scattered around the world.
Moving on to 1976: Karen is born of Armenian parentage and grows up in Richmond, Surrey. But inside her lies a secret, deep, dark pain that rips her to shreds on a daily basis. By the age of eighteen, she is homeless, penniless, her friends are heroin addicts and criminals. The solution: get a backing-singer contract with Telstar Records, meet famous people such as Jerry Springer and… move on!
Karen says that her play is about “everything I’ve experienced on the inside – getting it all out on the outside. So it’s a bit of revealing, exposing, shining a light on the darkness because when you shine a light on dark stuff, it can’t hurt any more“.
She goes on to say that the play is based on true events, and some of the challenges she has faced… but at the same time, not wanting friends and family to think badly of her. “Some scenes feel a little bit close to the bone, and raw… the overall effect cathartic…”
Bedrossian is a superb raconteur and has her audience hooked from the very start; in fact, her performance seems not a jot too long, and by the end, we feel we not only know her we also begin to appreciate what she has been through. What is fascinating is the almost British way of understating the most devastating moments of her life, which therefore also have extra poignancy. She also has had the ability to bounce back from everything that life has thrown at her. Her portrayal of herself is very physical: rarely does she sit still, rather like a young child, and gets herself into all sorts of positions to tell her tale. In this, she has been greatly helped by director Anastasia Bunce, who ensures that there is a great variety of pace within her tale, allowing the audience to assimilate the story, whilst at the same time continually driving the piece forward so that attention never flags.
Both are aided by a deceptively simple set design by Mim Houghton and unobtrusive lighting by Abraham Walkling-Lea.
Darkie Armo Girl is a very powerful piece of drama and is also one of the best one-person plays I have come across. It celebrates another highly successful year for Neil McPherson and Finborough Theatre and fully deserves full houses throughout its run. It may be a very dark piece of theatre, but Bedrossian knows when a touch of humour is required, and one leaves the theatre uplifted! Very highly recommended.
Review by John Groves
A true story.
1974. An Armenian family fleeing a civil war, arrive in the UK with £35, a suitcase and the address of a relative. But that’s nothing new for them. They’ve already had to flee a genocide.
1976. One careless mistake. Nine months and one near fatal C-section later, Karen Mary Bedrossian is born into a perfectly fine life and grows up in a perfectly fine house in Richmond, Surrey. But inside her lies a secret deep, dark pain that rips her to shreds on a daily basis…
1994. Karen’s 18, homeless, penniless, and her only friends are a couple of heroin addicts and criminals. The solution? Start again. Become a famous pop star. Then everyone would love and admire her and she’d be whole.
Wouldn’t she?
Written and performed by Karine Bedrossian
Director – Anastasia Bunce
Designed by Mim Houghton
Associate Design by Juliette Demoulin
Original Lighting Design by Abraham Walkling Lea
Associate Lighting Design and Production Relight by Kevin Murphy
Sound Design by Andy Wright
Associate Sound Design by Flick Isaac-Chilton
Video Design by Alex Powell
Video Programming by Austin Yang
Associate Direction by Cecilie Fray
Assistant Direction by Jennifer Jowett
Produced by Saskia Freeman and Jaemin Yu
DARKIE ARMO GIRL
Finborough Theatre
25 November to 20 December 2025
