Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Synetic Theater

Shakespeare's iambic pentameter, the rhythm of his words, echo the human heartbeat: ba-BUM, ba-BUM. But Synetic Theater gets to the beating heart of ROMEO AND JULIET without a single utterance of any of the Bard's famed words. In its innovative merging of drama and movement, Synetic's silent exploration of the classic work is an extraordinary vision of wonder and passion.

Director Paata Tsikurishvili once again directs the work that earned him a Helen Hayes Award when his adaptation was first staged in 2008 as part of the company's groundbreaking wordless Shakespeare series. Setting the production amid the grinding gears of a giant clock, the director explores "the exuberance and passion of youth in which time seems to both stop and accelerate."

Many of this production's most memorable and stunning scenes are a swirl of highly athletic motion: whether the spinning and twirling of the Capulets' lavish ball, the bawdy humor of the Nurse giving as good as she gets when harassed, or the electric tension of the highly physical confrontation between Tybalt and Mercutio. Irina Tsikurishvili, who co-founded the company with husband Paata and serves as its Associate Artistic Director, returns to the work as well to choreograph, using her remarkable vocabulary of movement to tell the story.

The cast, universally strong, delivers all that is demanded of them. There is a heat, exuberance, tenderness and connection between the young lovers, Zana Gankhuyag as Romeo and Irina Kavsadze as Juliet, who grow and discover together. They believably evolve from a first kiss that frightens and astonishes them both to a dreamy and sensuous love scene rendered artfully by shadows against a gently moving white cloth scrim. Philip Fletcher's Mercutio is all brash and bravado, wordlessly instigating with the tic of an eyebrow or a broader gesture all the youthful indiscretions mama and papa Montague surely warned against. Yet Fletcher isn't always playing for laughs; the fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt (a strong Ryan Sellers) is highly charged and dangerous. Irakli Kavsadze as Friar Laurence uses stillness effectively amid an eddy of constant motion, although he is ultimately unable to slow the inevitable march of time. Katherine Frattini shows great presence as Lady Capulet, Randy Snight is a foreboding Paris, Will Hayes seamlessly stepped in as understudy on opening night as Lord Capulet; Scott Turner, Janine Baumgardner and Eliza Smith round out the cast as the ensemble whether meshing as gears of the clock or guests at the ball. ROMEO AND JULIET is truly an ensemble work but special mention must be made of the outstanding performance of Kathy Gordon as the Nurse.With Tsikurishvili's choice to make the Nurse more of a peer to Juliet, Gordon is able to let loose a great range of comedic and extremely physical work. We meet her primping for the ball with Juliet and cheer her on as she holds her own against Mercutio to get an important message to Romeo. Gordon's Nurse is a memorably wise and sassy confidante in the tradition of a strong WEST SIDE STORY Anita.

There is a freedom in lifting away the familiar words and delving thoroughly and differently into the emotional essence of ROMEO AND JULIET.Lesser actors might rely on the genius of Shakespeare's poetry to propel the work, but Synetic's artists don't have the luxury to even consider the temptation of not fully preparing or not totally connecting. This deeply considered, skillfully rendered production allows the audience to rediscover ROMEO AND JULIET. It is like looking through a prism that offers new angles and surprising colors of a thoroughly familiar object.

The design elements are an important part of the storytelling. In fact, the production elements are so well-integrated they are difficult to separate; time and again they simply mesh to tremendous effect like when a chapel is created on the spare set by an arch of light and smoke with an actor standing with his back to the audience and arms outstretched as a crucifix. Lights, designed originally by Colin K. Bills and now by Brittany Diliberto, are highly atmospheric and at times even architectural as they define changing locations. Anastasia Simes designed both the set and costumes keeping both textured but unfussy and using a muted palette broken by a few surprising pops of rich color. The story unfolds within a giant clock with gears constantly in motion, driving us toward the inevitable end. With such a central conceit, I would have liked to have seen the set's dominant pendulum more defined, weighty, and polished, but this is nit-picking an otherwise intriguing and successful design. Konstantine Lortkipanidze composed the original music, an evocative electronic score in which one discovers the tick of a clock or the medical blip of a heart monitor layered in the work. Lortkipanidze also shared the sound design with Irakli Kavsadze.

The production is a well-paced 80 minutes that balances quiet moments with lavish movement. Details take on interesting possibilities: a sidelong look, a ragged breath, a rose, a scarf, a ring. By the time the house lights come up, the audience realizes that wordlessness still communicates volumes. With ROMEO AND JULIET Synetic delivers what they do best: an innovative and thought-provoking synthesis of drama and movement.

Runtime: 80 minutes with no intermission

ROMEO AND JULIET (by William Shakespeare; adapted by Nathan Weinberger and Paata Tsikurishvili) runs through March 27 with shows 8 p.m. Wednesday - Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, student matinees 11 a.m. Friday. The production is at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street in Arlington, VA 22202. For tickets or information, please see the company's website here.

Photos by Johnny Shryock. Top and bottom: Irina Kavsadze as Juliet and Zana Gankhuyag as Romeo. Center: Ensemble of ROMEO AND JULIET. Next: Ryan Sellers as Tybalt and Philip Fletcher as Mercutio.

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