Personal horror

The horrors of events like the Armenian holocaust are so vast that it’s hard to imagine them from a distance as anything other than a numbing abstraction. It’s primarily through the stories of survivors that casualty statistics hit home with the immediacy and intensity of personal experience -- qualities vividly evoked in “I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen” at Glendale’s Alex Theatre.

Author Leon Surmelian’s memoir, a harrowing account of the World War I-era ethnic cleansing of Turkey’s Armenian population, has been skillfully adapted for Cornerstone Theatre Company by Yehuda Hyman. Created as part of the Cornerstone’s youth-focused educational program, the piece does not entail the level of community participation for which the company is best known, but it’s a powerful and educational outreach effort nonetheless.

In staging this narration-heavy chronicle of Surmelian’s boyhood ordeal -- the brutal murder of his family and his own narrow escape -- director Christopher Liam Moore artfully extends the piece beyond just storytelling.

Playing Surmelian as an adult narrator and at various times between the ages of 8 and 17, solo actor Ludwig Manukian proves a perfect fit for the role. His boyish face and exuberance convincingly evoke Leon’s shattered innocence and courage as he endures the idyllic, multiethnic seaside village of his childhood torn apart by rabid Turkish nationalism in 1911.

Piercing details such as watching his female relatives sewing poison tablets into their dresses to save themselves from violation stand out starkly against the earlier happy memories included in Hyman’s adaptation.

The minimal backdrop -- an illuminated map of Leon’s homeland -- serves as both information resource and backlit screen for Michelle Zamora’s inventive shadow puppets. Composer John Bilezikjian provides near-continuous accompaniment on a variety of string and percussion instruments.

Transcending the specifics of race and history, Surmelian’s memoir calls out for universal tolerance, longing for a time when, “as children we spoke the same true language, although the words were different.” It’s a message that might sound Pollyannaish from less authentic voices, but Surmelian earned the right to every syllable.

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‘I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen’

Where: Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale

When: 8 p.m. today and Wednesday

Ends: Wednesday

Price: $10

Contact: (818) 243-2539 or www.alextheatre.org

Running time: 1 hour, 5 minutes