A Unique Theater Experience…



Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream



I will start by admitting that this is not my first performance that I have seen presented by the Synetic Theater. Prior to moving to DC, I was treated to their rendition of Antony & Cleopatra. The play I saw most recently was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For those who are unaware of what exactly Synetic Theater is it is somewhat hard to describe and better to just go see. Synetic Theater is a physical theater company that was founded in 2001. The name is the combination of the two words, synthesis and kinetic. The shows are acted without words in a highly dramatic manner. The stories are told through movement, dance and instrumental music. The music is constantly changing to convey what is going on with the actors’ pantomime. You’ll occasionally hear a grunt or other such noise but there is no spoken word. It is really quite interesting. I understand that it is not for everyone but it should be noted that it is anything but boring. The two shows both completely held my attention the entire time.

The group’s mission is “to advance and enrich the theater arts in the Nation's Capital through its unique performance style, which fuses the classical elements of drama, movement, dance, mime, and music into a distinct form of non-realistic theater. This form is simultaneously avant-garde and accessible, with a broad appeal to a wide, culturally diverse, and cross-generational audience.” (Quote from http://www.synetictheater.org/).

Looking at the similarities between the two shows, their performances have overlapping casts as this is a theater company. The woman who played Cleopatra in Antony & Cleopatra was also Titani in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is actually one of the co-founders with her husband who is the director. A friend’s favorite cast member was Antony in the first show I saw and later became Oberon in the second one. Looking at the differences, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream I went to the actual Synetic Theater in Crystal City, VA rather than where I saw them first at the Shakespeare Theatre located in downtown Washington, DC. The theater in Virginia is quite small and cozy with images of their past performances in the entrance way.

Another reason I returned is that their original production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream received many award nominations for direction, choreography, acting and lighting, sound and costume design so; I was told that I just had to see this performance. I actually stalked their website waiting for the tickets to go on sale as it only returned for a very short while. Lucky for me I had a friend who was even more on top of it and had purchased five tickets for a group of us to go.

Personally, I very much enjoyed both performances as the storytelling was excellent and distinctive from what I am use to seeing at the theater. Therefore, if you are interested in seeing truly intriguing physical theater or are even just curious to see what it is, I highly recommend seeing a Synetic Theater performance. You are in for quite a unique theater experience…

Antony in Antony & Cleopatra