Four actors distribute books on stage, referring to a scene from Parajanov's film *The Color of Pomegranates*, in which books lie on the roof of the Sanahin monastery to dry after a rainstorm. The actors lay out the books and talk about life, art, death, love, grief, God, tenderness and eternity. The pages of the books rustle in the wind. It is beautiful.
To Forget ("Moranal" in Armenian) is a performance that celebrates the life and art of Sergei Parajanov. The performance artist and queer man lived during the Soviet dictatorship, long before these terms came into use. *To Forget* is an attempt by people from Armenia to understand their individuality and preserve their identity and worldview in the face of pervasive imperial pressures and colonial practices.
Parajanov was a creator of beauty in the dystopia of the Soviet regime. The production adopts his conviction that the world is a work of art in itself. It is a reverent approach to Parajanov's rules of life and his ability to recognize beauty, to create it under the most monstrous conditions and to find redemption from grief or injustice in beauty.
