Antony & Cleopatra Reviews

Washington Post- Somewhat Recommended

"...What is often missing amid the theatrical coups is narrative focus. The incorporation of backstory, including the tale of Cleopatra’s rivalry with her brother Ptolemy (Natan-Maël Gray), detracts from the titular romance. And while Shakespeare’s original admittedly also bops between places, personalities and armies, its dialogue often returns to the eponymous lovers when they aren’t onstage themselves. That conversational gravity can’t be a factor in this dialogue-free version, adapted by Nathan Weinberger and Paata Tsikurishvili."

Washington Blade- Highly Recommended

"...A spectacle of operatic proportions, Synetic Theater’s “Antony & Cleopatra” is performed entirely voiceless. An adaptation of the Bard’s original (a play bursting with wordplay, metaphors, and poetic language), the celebrated company’s production doesn’t flinch before the challenge."

MD Theatre Guide- Highly Recommended

"...Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili and underwritten by Rick and Vicky Hardy, the wordless adaptation centers on themes of love and ambition, forces that generate the production’s most physically-charged and high?risk moments. The opening images plunge the audience into an Egyptian civil war, introducing Cleopatra, not as an icon or seductress, but as a combatant. Irina Kavsadze plays her with command and precision, fighting openly against her brother, Ptolemy, for the right to rule—and losing."

BroadwayWorld- Recommended

"...The winter offering of Synetic Theater is a grand story chronicled by Roman historians and subsequently immortalized by Shakespeare. A tale of sweeping grandeur, power plays, alliances, nations conquered, unseemly lustful urges, and betrayal. Now let’s portray all that using only Sight, Sound, and movement. Get ready for something completely different…”Antony and Cleopatra.” It is simply put, a spectacle."

DC Theater Arts- Recommended

"...Synetic’s production brackets the play’s historicization of the Roman Empire from its more speculative love story. The Roman senate is caricatured through mechanized, economical choreography, effectively contrasting Antony and Cleopatra’s high-drama intimacy. Much as it might have appeared through Shakespeare’s eyes, Egypt becomes Rome’s exotified counterpoint. With so much ground to cover, Synetic’s production has little choice but to indulge in exposition, which can range from overextended to simply tiresome."