Washington Post - Not Recommended
"...It’s not only Istrate who recites at half-speed. Many, if not all, of the actors take lengthy beats between lines — perhaps thinking that taking one’s time conveys grandeur. The effect only intensifies the play’s airlessness, a feeling that is not mitigated by the energetic dancing. With the exception of an inventive conjuring with actors’ legs of the windmill at which Quixote tilts, much of the choreography serves only as a frenzied counterpoint to the limp dialogue."
Washington Examiner - Recommended
"...Under Tsikurishvili's inspired direction, "Quixote" develops in short, episodic scenes, each one revealing the extent of the knight's fantasizing. Quixote and Sancho ride past a pig farmer's daughter, Aldonza (Natalie Berk), and the knight sees her as Dulcinea, the lady of his dreams."
DCist - Somewhat Recommended
"...Synetic Theatre's take on the legend of Don Quixote sometimes feels like a thrilling adventure story. Sometimes, it's an exaggerated, goofy exercise, almost a children's tale. And sometimes...well, sometimes Sancho Panza is delivering a crude, discordant pseudo-rap about his newly ordained governorship to his subjects, who are grinding away below him, as if at a rave."
MetroWeekly - Recommended
"...packed full of the things Synetic does best, Quixote fully embraces the company's unique brand of holistic storytelling in which dance, movement, sound and voice play equal part. With his usual clarity, director Paata Tsikurishvili draws these textures together into a strong, resonant narrative, even as he courts the surreal. Thus, you will recognize the milestones of Cervantes's tale as Quixote chases his phantoms and pines for the ever-elusive Lady, Dulcinea, but you will also never have seen a windmill battle as fascinating as this one."
WeLoveDC - Somewhat Recommended
"...After several productions featuring expansively creative set design (such as the water stage for King Arthur), director Paata Tsikurishvili has chosen to tone things down and present a minimalist experience. After all, Synetic built its well-deserved reputation by using actors’ bodies to suggest environments to stunning effect. So why doesn’t it quite work with Don Quixote? Certainly this play about a dreamer is full of action, but that action is in the form of multiple vignettes hanging together incohesively, with a dreary sigh."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"...The episodic nature of Don Quixote is slightly problematic. The fog machine-driven climax, in which the knight fights a windmill and the physical embodiment of a dragon (contortionist Alex Mills), is best enjoyed for special effects rather than conflict resolution. In the novel, the dragon functions as a metaphor for the Spanish Inquisition; Paata Tsikurishvili targets religious hypocrisy and total depravity. And indeed, the moral plumb line of Synetic’s Don Quixote has a stronger pull than the plot. That Quixote is delusional is never a question, but what you second guess, by show’s end, is whether a sincere search for goodness can ever coincide with sanity."
Washingtonian - Somewhat Recommended
"...The directors reportedly looked to surrealists Salvador Dalí and Hieronymus Bosch for inspiration, an interesting prism through which to view the hapless Don Quixote, but it just doesn’t gel well with the company’s natural affinity for graceful movement. A particularly curious scene where Panza appears to smoke a giant spliff to celebrate his inauguration as governor prompts a frenzied, drug-fuelled dance sequence that grates after the gentle comedy of the first act. Toward the end of the show, a wind machine blows dry ice directly into the faces of the audience, leaving most unable to see or breathe; a dubious technique for a company that boasts physicality as its main currency."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...Synetic Theater mounted a bold production of Don Quixote, adapting a lengthy and complex written masterpiece into a work brief enough to be presented on the stage. The company brought to bear its substantial cache of acting and technical talent to create an enjoyable rendition of another classic piece of literature."
DCTheatreScene - Somewhat Recommended
A rare misstep for this prodigiously talented company, Don Quixote does little to illuminate Miguel de Cervantes’ Golden Age classic and makes its hero a ridiculous figure, almost a marionette seemingly manipulated by his tenuous grip on reality.
