Synetic Theater’s ‘Madness of Poe’ is deliciously horrific

Director and Synetic Theater co-founder Paata Tsikurishvili has introduced us with a hugely imaginative conceit. He has taken Edgar Allan Poe’s iconic Gothic poem “The Raven” and his macabre limited tale of a ruined spouse and children in “The Drop of the Home of Usher” and overlaid them in canny juxtaposition. Bracketed by Poe’s romantic poem “Lenore,” applied below as a reference to Poe’s missing enjoy. By setting the tale in the corrupt and most evil home of Usher we see Poe’s tortured soul as he anguishes about what arrived to be his 1st effective poem, later on recognized as 1 of the greatest poems at any time published. It’s a intelligent mashup that neatly brings together Poe’s extraordinary reward for the Victorian horror genre with the inventive license and good originality Synetic Theater is well-known for.

By invitation, Poe arrives at the home to stop by his aged friend Roderick, who is evidently in the center of a anxious breakdown. He is envisioned to soothe Roderick and jolly him up as aged close friends do. But Poe is not in any situation to provide solace, as he way too is at his wits’ finish, and the haunting of the home, the eerie sound of the distant bells, and the partitions that appear to be to speak of loss of life and destruction do not bode very well for this place retreat.

In a distinct departure from their silent productions, Synetic has picked to have talking actors, and we are guided by Poe’s terms, which lie in the thin line between genius and insanity. This is not for the kiddies, as there is the incestuous romance in between Roderick Usher, the opium-smoking cigarettes scion of Usher Property, and his attractive sister Madeline, who suffers from unpredictable seizures. Incorporate to that a residence imbued with horror, a catatonic servant, and a pack of indignant wraiths that transform up where ever and any time they like. It is deliciously horrific — if that’s your cup of tea — and I imagine I’ll have a cuppa, if it is no trouble at all.

I was wholly taken by The Raven with its steel talons and black plumed avian determine performed hypnotically by Maryam Najafzada, who is sheer magic in the position and Nutsa Tediashvili as Madeline, who floats weightlessly or frighteningly dependent on no matter if she is convulsing or going for walks about in a dreamlike condition and showing up as if she just stepped out of an Alphonse Mucha portray and Megan Khaziran as Lenore, who is ethereal as Poe’s doomed inamorata.

If you are familiar with Synetic’s productions, you know that they are packed to the hilt with physically demanding classical and modern-day dance, acrobatics, chaos, and fierce fighting scenes. Romantic pas de deux are followed by tempestuous battles and accompanied by atmospheric digital and synth-pop music and seat-vibrating audio consequences.

All in all, it is a flawlessly ghoulish night at the theater.

Operating Time: 90 minutes, with no intermission.

The Madness of Poe performs via October 31, 2021, at Synetic Theater in the underground Crystal Metropolis Stores, 1800 South Bell Road, Arlington, VA. Tickets are $10-$60 and are readily available online, at the theater box business office (open up an hour ahead of showtime), or by mobile phone at (703) 824-8060 ext. 117.

Synetic Theater’s COVID Basic safety Protocols are below.

https://www.youtube.com/enjoy?v=22FTrUt41Hg

CREDITS

Starring Ryan Sellers as Edgar Alex Mills as Roderick Maryam Najafzada as The Raven Philip Fletcher as Servant and Megan Khaziran as Lenore with Scean Aaron, Aaron Kan, and Ariel Kraje in the ensemble.

Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili Associate Choreographer, Maryam Najafzada Adapted by Katherine DuBois Initial Adaption of “The Fall of the Home of Usher” by Nathan Weinberger Costume Structure by Alexa Duimstra Scenic and Residence Design and style by Phil Charlwood Seem Style by Justin Schmitz and Lights Design and style by Doug Del Pizzo.

SEE ALSO: Synetic to develop following time both of those in particular person and on film (time announcement)