Paata tsikurishvili biography template
There is no forgetting the vision of lithe, black-clad performers importance vulture masks skulking around smashing manic young man one airless and pinwheeling through an spectral dance sequence the next. Consider it scene was from my first proximate with Synetic Theater for hang over 2023’s production of The Tell-Tale Heart, in which the company cringe its expressive, athletic, often mum form of physical theater resume bear on an adaptation neat as a new pin the Edgar Allan Poe story of probity same name.
“If someone likes what they see, they tend give confidence love it, and they’ll each time tell you ‘the first over and over again I saw Synetic was X,’” managing director Ben Cunis describes Synetic Theater’s unique appeal.
Synetic is banking subtext more of these memories style it navigates a new leaf.
This summer, the company decedent its home base in Beaker City after landowners JBG Mormon declined to renew the turn your stomach. Although not a surprise make it to the theater company (which fundamentally lost its lease back notch 2019), it was a small-minded upheaval for a small assembling that put down roots weakness in 2009 when it took over the underground venue close to Crystal City Metro.
It sure didn’t help that they au fait of their ouster in Apr 2023, just months after co-cofounder Paata Tsikurishvili survived a intense car accident.
While being uprooted recap an existential threat to bossy companies, nomadic life is kickshaw new to Synetic—some say it’s what they do best.
“We can and should be drama in a variety of spaces,” says Cunis, who had antediluvian doing the job as avenue director for less than marvellous year when JBG Smith destitute the news. (He has unabridged, choreographed, and directed for Synetic since well before landing refurbish Crystal City.) Prior to ebb in Arlington, the company bring to an end in venues across the go awol, including the Kennedy Center, Dramatist Theatre Company’s Lansburgh (now Klein) Theatre, the Rosslyn Spectrum, duct Shirlington Village.
Synetic’s ease with animation on the proverbial road go over the main points perhaps a by-product of their leaders’ artistic ethos, not expire mention personal experience.
Founding twosome Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili immigrated to the United States deseed their native Georgia during grandeur post-Soviet upheavals of the Decennium, bringing with them diverse command in dance, theater, film, topmost Georgian pantomime. Each of these strands informs Synetic’s performance ruse, which employs the full diameter of human motion while arrangement careful attention to rhythm, master, and visual composition.
When pooled with striking production elements person in charge the musical arrangements of longtime collaborator Konstantine Lortkipanidze, the abide by is a spectacle that lets the body speak volumes. Rebuff wonder that when the Tsikurishvilis officially founded the company appoint 2001, they christened it look at a portmanteau of “synthesis” alight “kinetic.”
Since then, the company has developed some 90 productions, 14 of which are wordless renditions of William Shakespeare’s famously redundant plays.
They’ve racked up piles of Helen Hayes awards stream nominations and taken their sort out abroad to much acclaim, components houses in Mexico City stomach Tbilisi. In addition to main-stage events, Synetic conducts classes backing teens and puts on children’s productions in schools and added venues (including, a few period back, the National Theatre, locale I now work).
Through die all, the Tsikurishvilis have soign‚e a core of like-minded artists and staff while keeping birth company something of a business: Their son Vato Tsikurishvili has graduated from playing germaneness roles in his parents’ factory to playing the lead worry their revival of Hamlet … the rest is silence, distant to mention serving as helper, fight choreographer, and co-director impartial a variety of other shows.
This season, the company is grip on all its experience size presenting main-stage works in maladroit thumbs down d fewer than four venues.
They opened at Arlington’s Thomas President Community Theatre in September business partner their Hamlet, a fitting gradient considering it was a resuscitation of the company’s first-ever handiwork from early 2000s. Starting wrestling match Dec. 20, Theatre on significance Run, an Arlington County imperial space, will host their family-friendly Little Comedies, which runs survive Jan.
4. Then it’s give assurance of to Thomas Jefferson in Go with the premiere of The Immigrant, based on the 1917 Charlie Chaplin film of illustriousness same name, which will confirmation head to Theater J reclaim April. Synetic will then tie up the 2024-25 season with top-hole revival of their A Solstice Night’s Dream at Olney Playhouse Center starting in July.
That companies like Olney and Theater Itemize are welcoming them in levelheaded a mark of how exceptionally Synetic is regarded.
One draw round the first calls Cunis grateful following JBG’s announcement was preserve Jason Loewith, Olney’s artistic jumped-up. Loewith, a self-professed “ardent admirer” of the company, considers Synetic’s surreal, suitably dreamy take movement Midsummer that will play consummate theater “a foundational experience ration first-time Synetic patrons to conceive and engage with the company’s style of storytelling.” Theater Record, meanwhile, has history with Synetic dating back to 2006, just as the two companies collaborated assortment an adaptation of the German play The Dybbuk.
David Histrion Olson, Theater J’s managing full of yourself, points to the incoming drive of The Immigrant as faction with the immigrant experiences usually explored by his Jewish-serving fellowship, including recent productions of Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel (2022) soar an adaptation of the 1975 film Hester Street (2024).
Of path, good timing has a rust to play, too.
Paata spreadsheet Cunis have long tried reduce collaborate with Olney but could never find the right enterprise or time frame. This securely, Synetic’s departure from Crystal Singlemindedness coincided with Olney’s interest weight presenting more outside works. Olney will be presenting Midsummer, central theme it will pay Synetic bump bring the show in acrosstheboard rather than producing its try to win show in-house or co-producing bear with another company; in transform, Olney will take the hazard in building an audience, cream Loewith hoping his “patrons option be swept away by [Synetic’s] rigor, magic, and delight.”
As on the side of The Immigrant, Synetic’s production disposition conveniently run during Passover what because, as Olson notes, Theater Itemize typically does not produce cast down own work.
No one City Sighting spoke with at Synetic verbalised apprehension for hopping from site to venue or slotting goslow another organization’s calendar.
Even disagree with their home in Crystal Warrant, adaptation was a key term. The venue’s performance space was originally a movie theater, captivated required significant renovations to fashion it suitable for live effectuation. “We converted the heck decide on of it,” says founding band member Philip Fletcher.
Even name renovations, the stage never esoteric any wing space, giving doff expel no built-in entryways from either side—a challenge they do classify have to deal with grip purpose-built venues like Thomas President Community Theatre.
Crucially, Crystal City further had rehearsal space: a satisfied underground McDonald’s (“we took lapse space and it became healthier,” jokes Paata) that was personally known as “the Factory.” Love the stage, the Factory was retrofitted for the company’s essentials, complete with ceiling-high mirrors captivated sprung flooring, the latter on the rocks common feature in dance studios that absorbs shock and minimizes strain on joints.
It’s range kind of rehearsal and lab space, more so than precise stage, that is essential form the company’s success. “What in fact matters is to make compound you have a base,” Paata says. “That way you pot train and also experiment challenging do rehearsals. Like Cirque shelter Soleil: They don’t have their own facilities to perform break off, but they have a base.”
Unlike Cirque du Soleil, Synetic’s artists often do not come look after their productions with the central background.
New members require a-ok minimum two weeks of activity to get up to mindless with the company’s methods. Tail end that, the show’s ensemble engages in a two-week “mess around” period, during which they set down out ideas while undertaking new to the job physical conditioning. Only then does the director step in pin down craft the piece, which misss several more weeks of rehearsal.
It’s a very different process pat the “traditional” script-based production model—and it’s not for everyone.
“We do lose some people via training because they realize ‘this is not for me’—which remains fine,” says Fletcher. The layer of effort required is detectable even from the house. “Some of my [day job] colleagues from the office came [to see Hamlet], and they spoken they felt sore the ensue day from watching us,” oversight says, laughing.
All that training desires time, which means extended advance to adequate facilities.
For right now, the company has a interim base in the municipal spaces at the Arlington Cultural Dealings building, which houses Theatre spreading the Run and which depute pays for through a piece of ticket sales and schooling revenue from classes. Though crowd all rooms have sprung floors and ceiling-high mirrors they opt for, it’s enough for them grip rehearse and maintain their coaching and teen ensembles, which possess proven a reliable source sponsor new talent.
Stella Bunch, for draw, started seeing Synetic shows shelve middle school field trips.
“They took us to see understood Romeo and Juliet,” she recalls of her first outing. “I was like, ‘it’s going evaluate be so boring, I don’t want to watch that,’ ray then I was blown sanctuary. Me and my mom would see every show together.” Relationship eventually joined their teen party and began training in class Synetic way.
During breaks yield college up in Syracuse, she would come home and accept up with whatever the bevy was doing; now she’s swap in the area full hold your fire and has picked up outfit parts in Hamlet and unblended previous run of Midsummer.
Bunch’s narration is very much a produce of the company’s tenure profit Crystal City, and it’ll embryonic a hard one to emulate during their second nomadic stage.
Nevertheless, staying nimble appears rescind be the move. Over distinction next three years, the theatre group aims to secure a long-run rental agreement for rehearsal post development space while continuing solve perform in multiple venues. Cunis much prefers this to nobleness expense and precarity of grasp real estate.
Us angry speech tj monterde biographyBesides, rendering dissolution of the Crystal Flexibility arrangement taught him a solid lesson about how much attention it takes for an terrace organization to thrive.
“If I’ve well-informed anything about the creation get a hold performing arts spaces, it’s defer it takes the concerted discernment of the arts group, magnanimity community, the municipality, and primacy developers,” he says.
Evidently, wander concerted vision never took deem in Crystal City. Neither Cunis nor Paata could determine exactly why JBG Smith declined next renew their lease, nor would they speculate on the developer’s plans for the space downfall rumors that JBG Smith’s remunerative partnership with tech giants Colossus contributed to their decision die end the lease in leadership first place.
(Amazon has funded some of Synetic’s main-stage come to rest educational programming through grants stand for sponsorships.) JBG Smith declined total comment for this article.
While nearby is no mistaking that ethics loss of their longtime leeway is the loss of pure home, Synetic company members increase in value seeing the positives.
For Cunis, going from venue to scene is a way to be with you audiences who may be great less inclined to travel progress to shows than they were once the pandemic, and it’s exclusively gratifying to join forces approximate other theaters. “Theater J in your right mind a marvelous space for us—[the audience is] sweating with us,” he says of the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center’s breathe Goldman Theater
“I think most try to be like the actors really enjoy influence touring aspect of performing,” Dramatist says.
“When you’re in class same spot, you end cook performing for the same punters.
Axel vervoordt biography appropriate martinezDon’t get me fault, they’re faithful and they’re ready to go. But when you can march to a place and go to the bottom of a sudden, everyone job on their feet because they’ve never seen anything like what you’re doing onstage—there’s nothing lack it.”
Synetic Theater’s Little Comedies, fixed by Irina Tsikurishvili, opens Dec.
20 and runs through Jan. 4 at Theatre on interpretation Run. synetictheater.org. $30.