Make Mad Scientist Dr. Moreau Part of Your Hallloween

If you haven't yet made your Halloween weekends plans and you would rather observe your horror than participate in it, you will want to consider Synetic Theater's production of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

There are only 3 more performances scheduled for Synetic's reimagining of the classic mad scientist tale conceived by early science fiction master  H. G. Wells, whose major works deal with humanity's inability to cope with technology and the modern world.

There are many reasons to see the production. Here are just 4.

1. You will get a rare chance to see Synetic's founding artistic director Paata Tsikurishvili perform as actor, as well as director. Tsikurishvili portrays Moreau.
2. The Synetic performance offers the finest Halloween season movements seen since the rhythmic zombies in Michael Jackson's iconic video "Thriller."
3. The play will let you ponder some of the great mysteries inherent in Halloween - the nature of good and evil, the difference between man and monster, the relationship between science and morality.
4. There is blood (a lot of it), as well as the brilliantly choreographed fight scenes which Synetic is deservedly so well known for.

In his director's notes Tsikurishvili calls "the prescience of the story's themes as relevant and troubling today at the beginning of the 21st century as they were at the close of the 19th."

"Stem cell research, genetic manipulation, even plastic surgery - the human need and capacity for relentless, artificial, and accelerated improvement has become seemingly limitless," the director contends. "Wells recognized this capability in use, before it even fully existed, in our compulsion to control, manipulate and master."

"Dr. Moreau attempts this on his island (with his experiments) and its utter futility has a terrible irony since many of  these honest attempts to create, improve, and benefit ultimately cause nothing but destruction. This is the tragedy of Wells' tale. Dr. Moreau is a visionary, but, at the same time, his great intellect is warped by a complete loss of feeling and empathy," he added.

You might argue that since Synetic is located in the underground of Crystal City where we live, we might be biased in calling the company our DC favorite offering continual praise for so many of its productions. If that's the case, here are what others are saying:

"If you are looking for that edgy, near-perfect evening out this Halloween season, it doesn't matter whether you've got a date to impress or a feisty teenager who loves gore-you really must check out Synetic Theater's The Island of Dr. Moreau."

- Broadwayworld.com

"[Paata] Tsikurishvili is as mesmerizing as ever." 

- The Washington Post

"Overall, Synetic's Moreau is an island of impeccably rendered terror, a hell house on the sea. Performances and production design work together flawlessly to create this creepy little delight. It's the perfect night of theatre for the Halloween season." 

- DC Theatre Scene

"The Island of Dr. Moreau exhibits both sensational performances and relevant themes. Combined with enthusiastic performances by dancers and actors alike, Synetic's most recent production is a show worth experiencing."

- Maryland Theatre Guide

"Long applause to Synetic for what it continues to do;  at times reaching beyond its past to find new sources of inspiration with words to digest." 

- DC Metro Theatre Arts

Synetic Scores Again with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

With all the snow this winter, power outages have been occurring all over the country. The next time you find yourself without power, you might want to call the Synetic Theater troupe to perform their current production Twelfth Night in your area.

The play, set in the Gatsbyesque, 1920s era of silent films and the company's 10th production in its ongoing Silent Shakespeare series, creates enough energy to keep a huge neighborhood or even a good-sized city steeped in power for days.

Director Paata Tsikurishvilli says the linkage between the 1920s and the Shakespeare play was "natural."

"Much like the seminal novel of the period, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Shakespeare's play is a meditation on selfishness and shallowness, a satire at once melancholic and biting," Tsikurishvilli says in his director's notes. "In fact, many of the characters in Fitzgerald's novel seem direct descendants of those in Shakespeare's play - both works are peopled with the idle, indolent, hard-drinking rich, living purely for fun, in the moment, and with apparently nothing better to do than ostentatiously wallow in their private miseries or exact cruel and heartless revenge for grievances, real of imagined."

"Only the play's central character Viola (played brilliantly in the production by Tsikurishvilli's wife Irina) stands out from the rest of these petty aristocrats: a (Charlie Chaplin) Little Tramp-like figure, searching for love, deeply good and completely indestructible," he added.

The use of the 1920s setting also offers the opportunity for the talented cast to demonstrate a new-for-them style of movement based on the iconic dances of the 1920s such as the charleston and the jitterbug.

In short, if you like great theater, spirited dancing, Shakespeare, the 1920s, or early jazz music, you should see this play. But you will have to hurry. There are only 6 performances left this week.

But don't just take our word for it. Here's what the critics are saying:

• "The production is creative, entertaining, and oozing with charm". (The Washintonian)
• "A bouyantly entertaining evening during which, it seems, anything goes." (The Washington Post)
• "Layer after luscious layer." (from The DC Theater Scene) 

Learning The Lindy Locally

Tonight, the Synetic Theater opens Twelfth Night, the latest in its series of Silent Shakespeare productions. Here is an article from The Washington Post explaining how members of the award-winning theater company did clandestine dance research at a local dance emporium in Columbia Heights.

(Koko Lanham) - Irina Tsikurishvili stars in “Twelfth Night” at Synetic Theater, part of the Silent Shakespeare series

To the regular Lindy hoppers at the Jam Cellar dance night in Columbia Heights, the new odd couple was easy to spot. She was 40ish and European — Russian, maybe? — and he was her quick-on-his-feet, much younger partner. That they could dance was obvious, yet they were struggling a bit with a basic rock step.

The mystery couple turned out to be Synetic Theater choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili and actor-dancer Alex Mills, out on the town on a clandestine swing-dance mission to learn the Lindy hop and brush up on their Charleston before staging a 1920s-inspired production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”

“People kept telling us, ‘You guys are picking this up so quickly,’ so finally we had to tell them why we were there,” Tsikurishvili recalled.

The results of their reconnaissance trip will be onstage tonight, when Synetic opens the 10th installment of its “Silent Shakespeare” series — ­dance-theater productions that convey stories through movement and music, without any of the Bard’s dialogue. On one hand, the setting feels calculated to capitalize on the “Gatsby” craze, but it’s also a choice that makes artistic sense for the troupe. Irina and her husband, Paata Tsikurishvili, who directs the show, have long been influenced by the aesthetic of silent films — particularly the comedic mime work of Charlie Chaplin — and they knew setting a show in the ’20s would open up new possibilities when it came to choreography.

To continue reading the post, click here.

Synetic Readying Dorian Gray

If you have ever attended a Synetic Theater (or, as we like to call it, the world-class theater in our Crystal City basement) production, you have probably wondered what type of intensive exercise training would be required to prepare the troupe for such physically demanding dancing, fighting, and mime-like movements.

Well, at its annual appearance at the Kennedy Center's Page to Stage series, Synetic cast members presented a 10-minute demonstration of one of their intensive exercise routines. Of course, the session was greatly abbreviated. Exercise, training, and conditioning sessions can last from 1 to 6 hours a day depending upon the production.

Synetic also used their time on the Millennium Showcase stage to preview scenes from their upcoming production, The Picture of Dorian Gray, an original restaging of the classic Gothic Fautian-themed novel by Oscar Wilde.

The performance, which, based on the preview promises to be another in the long line of award-winning presentations, opens on Sept. 26 and will run until Nov. 3.

But back to those warm-up exercises for a minute. If you would like to experience a sample of the such intensity yourself, you can. Synetic offers exercise and training programs for the public. Just check out the group's web site.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
If you would like to see the entire one-hour performance by Synetic, you can by clicking here.

A Midsummer's Night Dream, Synetic Style

The Synetic Theater Company, or as we like to call it, the world-class theater in our Crystal City basement, is back, this time with a revival of one of their former productions A Midsummer's Night Dream.

As with all of their Shakespeare adaptions, the play is silent, meaning the setting, staging, costuming, music, dance, physical action, and especially in this case, the actor's expressions and reactions have to carry both the story and message. And they do.

In its review, the Washington Post called the play "a particular sensual pleasure. It was not just energetic and sexy; it was light, big-hearted and magnetic." The Washingtonian gives the play 4 stars, claiming in its review that the revival is "a visually stunning piece, as well as one that truly embraces the comedy component of Shakespeare’s dreamy work."

Of course, the Synetic story line follows that of Shakespeare's original comedy - the adventures of 2 couples who get stranded in a forest and fall victim to the pranks of fairies and sprites, and the misadventures of five buffoonish actors attempting to put on a play.

Alex Mills as a bent-back Puck

The play usually is dominated by the character Puck and that is true of this Synetic version. An incredibly lithe and limber, blue, spiky-haired Alex Mills flips and swings his way through the mystical moon-lit forest on vines.

A special shoutout also goes to Synetic in-house composer Konstantine Lortkipanidze, who gets much stage time playing piano live for the silent-film, slapstick happy, modern-dressed actors' troupe.

The play, with a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes with no admission, continues until Aug. 4.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Shakespeare's plays are made to be seen, not read about. And this Synetic version is no different. Click here to view the official trailer for the production.

Three Musketeers Storm the Synetic Stage

By definition, a classic is timeless. But a classic piece of literature is even more. With a subtle emphasis shift or some minor tweaking, a classic story can become a completely contemporary tale. And such is the case with Synetic Theater's current production of The Three Musketeers, based on the famed novel by Alexander Dumas.

The story was adapted by multi-talented company player Ben Kunis, who also plays Athos in the 2-hour production. "This is a story about dreams meeting reality," Kunis says. "Attempting to distill Dumas' serial epic into dramatic form is, in itself, an idealistic venture."

"We found ourselves telling a story about our own generation," Kunis explained. "Graduating from high school at the end of 90's and into the War of Terror and graduating from college into the Great Recession, our generation has been one raised on idealism and confronted with a real world that doesn't quite match our expectations."

"So D'Artagnan (Dumas' main hero) comes to Paris with a dream, and the world is a different place than he expected. When he comes out the other end of his challenges, he has become something new. But this storyline is not one unique to D'Artagnan or our generation, and that's what makes it a great classic," Kunis added.

If you attend this play which is running until June 9 (and you definitely should), expect to see all the trademarks that have established Synetic as an award-winning DC theater company - exciting fight scenes, captivating dancing, mimed movements, provocative sets, and powerful music. However, there is one major difference. Long known for its silent Shakespeare series and no-dialogue versions of other classic stories, The Three Musketeers is filled with words. Founding Artistic Director and CEO Paata Tsikurishvili describes it this way: "What this collision of words and movement has produced is a truly larger-than-life tragicomic romance which, while perhaps not as surreal or abstract as some of our previous works, nevertheless remains a stylized fusion of Dumas' novel."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Here's what others are saying about The Three Musketeers. Just click on links to read the reviews. Three Musketeers Goes Full Throttle on the Senses (The Washington Post).  It dances! It swashbuckles! It talks! Synetic's Three Musketeers Is One for All. (The Washington City Paper) Dazzling Fight Choreography Makes This Synetic Production Shine. (The Washingtonian). To view the official trailer, click here.