Washington Post - Recommended
"...Of course, in this "Much Ado," most of the gambling is for love, not money. The expressive Tsikurishvili and Cunis bring piquancy and humor to Beatrice and Benedick's drawn-out emotional wager. At one point, the two antagonists play a game of strip poker that leaves Benedick standing awkwardly in his boxers; you can see the heatedness of the match - and Beatrice's relish at her win - in the definition and momentum of the actors' gestures."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"..."Synetic" is a word that has come to mean more, at least in the parlance of DC theatre, than the Crystal City-based company which it names. It has come to mean a theatre that is physical, sexy, dramatic, flashy, and, well... theatrical. So it is more than fitting that Synetic Theater's latest venture, their eleventh "Wordless Shakespeare" installment, is a Much Ado About Nothing set in 1950s Las Vegas. Directed by co-founder Paata Tsikurishvili, and starring co-founder Irina Tsikurishvili, Much Ado About Nothing is a wordless re-telling of Shakespeare's classic sex comedy, set in a Las Vegas casino populated by bikers, showgirls, and wize guy casino magnates. And although the show could use a bit of trimming and a shot of adrenaline, Much Ado satisfies and dazzles in a way that only Synetic can."
MetroWeekly - Recommended
"...It is, without doubt, a bold take on Shakespeare. Delivering the ins-and-outs of the plot requires a careful balance between the exciting dance and enough mime to advance the plot. Although there are a few moments when the mime threatens to put a damper on the pace, overall, director Tsikurishvili makes it sing. The bottom line is, taken as a Shakespearean concept piece, this is bold stuff. Taken as pure entertainment, it beats the band."
MD Theatre Guide - Recommended
"...The cast comes alive onstage, and I doubt no one watching it can fail to be infected by that kind of unbridled joy. It is remarkable what this comparatively small company is capable of, and being a part of it is an unforgettable experience."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
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Synetic’s 50’s biker musical Much Ado About Nothing
February 25, 2015 by Rosalind Lacy 1 Comment (Edit)
Remember Eisenstaedt’s iconic victory photo, “The Kiss”? Taken in 1945, a sailor in white cap kisses a girl in white, a nurse, as she bends over backwards like a hairpin. You see the image in a flash as staged by two actors in the midst of Synetic’s frenetic opening scene. It’s a brilliant bit because it places us in a celebratory era– post WWII.
Ben Cunis as Benedick. Irina Tsikurishvili as Beatrice. (Photo by Koko Lanham)
Ben Cunis as Benedick. Irina Tsikurishvili as Beatrice. (Photo by Koko Lanham)
In Synetic’s physical theater version of Much Ado About Nothing, inventively directed by Paata Tsikurishvili, we don’t have spoken asides, where the characters confide their real feelings to the audience. Nor do we need any words at all.
We are thrust into a celebratory era, the 1950s. At the rim of the proscenium, sailors in Navy uniforms don leather jackets with the lettering Syneticons on back. Warriors have become bikers, with greased back hair, in a street gang, hanging out. Tough guy casino owner, Uncle Leonato, played with genial flamboyance by Peter Pereyra, keeps a lid on his Las Vegas casino where dancers in ballerina skirts are jitterbugging, swing dancing and twisting. Kudos to those lively, scantily-clad chorus girls, costumed in designer Kendra Rai’s bizarre, black-feathery head gear.
Skip ahead a scene, and the bikers wheel in on real motor bikes, headlights shining, as if they were James Dean or Marlon Brando. It’s an invasion of gangland’s unruly side.
Irina Tsikurishvili, a nine-time Helen Hayes choreography award winner, has created ingenious dance routines, replete with understated sexuality, that push the envelope, and go light years further than any previous Synetic production. She breaks boundaries, veering on the edge of chaos. It’s as if she is trying to see how far she dare go with her well-trained dancers who she has execute acrobatics, cartwheels, pratfalls and well-timed slapstick comedy. Near a climactic point, the bikers pick up their bikes and twirl them like batons.