# Lala Mnatsakanyan

Lala Babkeni Mnatsakanyan (Armenian: Լալա Բաբկենի Մնացականյան; 8 October 1957 – 22 June 2024) was an Armenian actress who was named an Honoured Artist of Armenia in 2006.

## Biography

Born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Lala Mnatsakanyan was the third and youngest daughter in the family. Her mother Elza Gyuleseryan was an associate professor of stage speech at Yerevan Institute of Theater and Fine Arts. Her father Babken Mnatsakanyan was a mathematician and a candidate of physico-mathematical science.
After graduating from school N78, Lala Mnatsakanyan entered the Yerevan Institute of Theater and Fine Arts. In 1978, she graduated from the Faculty of Acting, receiving a diploma with honors.
She played many diverse roles in theatre, film, and television, and performed many roles in various theatres of the country–The Yerevan Youth Experimental Theatre, The Vanadzor State Drama Theatre (named after Hovhannes Abelyan), The Sundukyan State Academic Theatre of Yerevan, The “Metro” Theatre, and The “Mher Mkrtchyan” Artistic Theatre. She was a scriptwriter and performer of 140 miniatures. She was a professor of stage speech at Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography from 1991 until her death. Mnatsakanyan was a co-author of the first and to-date only tutorial “The Art of Teaching Stage Speech” written in Armenian.
Mnatsakanyan died on 22 June 2024, at the age of 66.

## Theatrical roles
### Yerevan Institute of Theater and Fine Arts

1975 – Smeraldina “Servant of Two Masters” Carlo Goldoni
1976 – Augustina “Eight Women” Robert Thomas
1978 – Giza “King Arlequin” Rudolf Lothar

### The Yerevan Youth Experimental Theatre

1979–1980 – Rosalia Pavlovna “The Bedbug” Vladimir Mayakovsky
1979–1980 – Mezalyapsova “The Bathhouse” Vladimir Mayakovsky
1979–1980 – Gertrude “William Tell Has Sad Eyes” Alfonso Sastre
1979 – Polly “The Threepenny Opera” Bertolt Brecht
1979–1980 – Sonya “Uncle Vanya” Anton Chekhov
1980 – Lika “Two sisters” Armen Zurabov
1984 – Vera “The bench” Alexander Gelman

### The Vanadzor State Drama Theatre named after Hovhannes Abelyan

1982 – Armine “Beroyan family” Zhora Sarksyan
1982 – Anahit “Horovel” Gevorg Sarksyan

### The Gabriel Sundukyan National Academic Theatre

1983 – Marina "Finding Joy" Viktor Rozov
1983 – Princess “The Twelve months” Samuil Marshak
1986 – Presenter “Blue Horses on Red Grass” Mikhail Shatrov
1987 – Ninuccia “Christmas at the Cupiello's” Eduardo De Filippo
1989 – Lisa “Save our souls” Anahit Aghasaryan
1991 – Sorrentino “Widows’ Comforter” G. Marotta and B. Randone

### The “Metro” Theatre

1995 – Eva “Ungrateful men” ("Love till death") Aldo Nicolaj
1995–1996 – Mary “Willy, Titi, Jig” Anahit Aghasaryan

### The “Mher Mkrtchyan” Artistic Theatre

2004 – Graciela “Love rebuff to the man sitting in armchair” Gabriel García Márquez
2009 – Filumena “Filumena Marturano” Eduardo De Filippo

### The Theatre of Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography

2012 – Mother “The Mother” Karel Čapek

## TV performances

1982–1983 – Lusik “Barsegh aga and others” Hagop Baronian
1983 – Policeman “Brave Nazar” L. Miridzhanyan
1984 – Janet “In the name of land and sun” Ion Druţă
1984 – Mary “God help us” Jackson
1984 – Masha "Look, who's come!" Vladimir Arro
1984 – Varya “Anton and Others” Aleksei Kazantsev
1986 – Hasmik “Aralez” Aghasi Ayvazyan
1989 – Nargiz “Leaven” Avetis Aharonyan
1994 – Vera “The bench” Alexander Gelman

## Radio performances

1983 – Hasmik “Peak of courage” Lalayants
1983 – Anna “Groom from forest” Hrachya Kochar
1983 – Nene “The Memoir of A Cross-Stealer” Raffi
1984 – Gladiator “Stranger” Chalikyan
1984 – Dulcinea del Toboso “Don Quixote” Miguel de Cervantes
1986–1987 – Prince “The Prince and the Pauper” Mark Twain
1991 – Swan “The Laughing Matter” William Saroyan

## TV programs

1992–1997 – Comic miniatures
1992–1997 – “Voice of the Greats”

## TV movies

1996 – Lala “Our yard 1”
1997 – Seller at flower store “Favourite songs 1”
1998 – Café owner “Favourite songs 2”
2005 – Lala “Our yard 3”
2021 – Lala “Our yard 25 year later”

## TV series

2010 – Lala “Our yard”
2015-2016 – “With the Whole Family”
2016-2017 – “Golden School”
2021 – “Unfinished Road”
2022 – “Guests from the past”

## Production
### Performances

2000 – “Fairy tales” Hovhannes Tumanyan
2001 – “Prometheus Bound” Aeschylus
2002 – “Musical Farce” Lala Mnatsakanyan
2007 – “Funny miniatures” Hagop Baronian
2012 – “The Mother” Karel Čapek

### Authoress TV program

1997 – “You bet” Comedy program
1998–2001 – “What's new?” Comedy musical program
2002–2003 – “Lala & Harut” Comedy program
2004–2007 – “To be continued” TV serials-miniatures

### Yeralash “Gzhuk” comedy TV show

2008 – “No lie, No truth”
2008 – “The Master and Margarita”
2009 – “Hidden talent”
2010 – “Football”
2011 – “The Present”
National Cinema Center of Armenia

## Prizes and awards

1977 – First award for the republican competition of readers
1978 – All-union competition of masters of artistic word named after Yakhontov
2004 – International festival of mono-performances “Armmono2” – award in nomination “Artistic skills” for Gabriel Garcia Marques play “Love reproof to the man sitting in armchair” or “Happy marriage like hell...”
2004 – Given an academic rank of associate professor in the specialty “dramatic art” and “cinematography”
2005 – Kyiv International festival of mono-performances “Vidlunnya” – awards in nominations “Best actress” and “Audience sympathy” for Gabriel Garcia Marques play “Love reproof to the man sitting in armchair” or “Happy marriage like hell...”
2006 – Honored Artist of Armenia
2008 – Given an academic rank of “professor” in the specialty “dramatic art” and “cinematography”
2012 – "Belaya Vezha" International Theatre festival in Brest – “Audience sympathy” for Karel Chapek play "The Mother"