Fazlian is considered one of the most important figures in Lebanese theater; his theater projects were covered in Armenian, Arabic and French-language newspapers of the period. Fazlian was born in Istanbul in 1926; after obtaining his education in Turkey and directing several plays, a friendly colleague advised him to seek his fortune outside Turkey, imploring Fazlian to "never leave the theater", but also reminding him that an Armenian was not likely to land a leading role in Turkey. Fazlian left Istanbul in 1951 and settled in Beirut where he founded the "Nor Pem" (“New Stage”) theater group in 1956, Vahram Papazian in 1959, and "Azad Pem" (“Free Stage”) in 1971.