Synetic Theater

Synetic Theater is a non-profit physical theatre company located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It performs at the Crystal City Theatre in Arlington Virginia and the Lansburgh Theatre (Washington, D.C.).

Its declared mission is "to advance and enrich the theatre 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 theatre. This form is simultaneously avant-garde and accessible, with a broad appeal to a wide, culturally diverse, and cross-generational audience."

Founded in 2001, Synetic Theater began as an artistic subgroup within the now-defunct Stanislavsky Theater Studio which performed at the Church Street Theater in Washington, D.C. – the result of an artistic split by the husband and wife team of Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili from Andrei Malaev-Babel, the other co-head of The Stanislavsky Theater Studio.

It made its artistic debut in April 2002 with a wordless adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, known as Hamlet...the rest is silence. The production was remounted the following season, receiving the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Play.

Despite the artistic split, Synetic Theater and The Stanislavsky Theater Studio continued to share resources and performance space into the following season, but in 2003, after a series of disagreements over financial matters, Synetic set off on its own.

The following year Synetic merged with Classika Theater, a children's theatre based in Shirlington, Virginia.

Through its educational programs in the dramatic and visual arts, Synetic strives to build the audiences of tomorrow by fostering and promoting the overall development of children and adolescents, as well as use the freshness of its performance style to reawaken a fascination with theatre and art that lies dormant in large sections of the American population.

In a society that is increasingly immersed in the visually rich but often contextually tepid waters of television, movies, and the internet, Synetic seeks to re-introduce the theatre as a place where everything old can become new again. Towards this goal, Synetic endeavours to increase its national and international exposure, captivating audiences around the globe, while maintaining the excellence of its artistic and educational programs.

Synetic is noted for performing well known Shakespeare plays without words. Hours-long plays are pared to 90 minutes of highly stylised dance, movement, acrobatics, pantomime, music and story without a word being spoken.

In a letter to patrons in a program, Michael Kahn, the Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, says: "Synetic's signature blend of music, movement, and dance represents a novel approach to Shakespeare."

Synetic Theater’s mission is to be the premier American physical theater, fusing dynamic art forms—such as text, drama, movement, acrobatics, dance and music, by producing world-class physical theater for all ages, educating the next generation of artists and physical theater professionals, and promoting this distinct form of theater nationally and internationally through community outreach and touring programs.

SYNthesis: the coming together of distinct elements to form a whole

KinETIC: pertaining to or imparting motion, active, dynamic

SYNETIC: a dynamic synthesis of the arts

Ten years later, Synetic annually produces four to five Mainstage productions, three family series productions, houses an educational studio for ages 4 through adult, conducts outreach programs and tours family and Mainstage productions, reaching over 36,000 patrons.

Overall, Synetic has earned 79 Helen Hayes Nominations and received 21 Helen Hayes Awards, garnering acclaim for its "Silent Shakespeare" repertoire (Hamlet...the rest is silence, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, Othello and King Lear) as well as its text- and movement-based classical pieces, such as Host and Guest, Frankenstein, Carmen and The Master and Margarita.

In 2006, Synetic began its five-year partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to produce one show per season for The Kennedy Center and in 2009, forged an alliance with The Shakespeare Theatre Company to produce its new adaptation of Antony and Cleopatra at STC’s Lansburgh Theatre, solidifying its position as a Washington fixture.

In 2010, Synetic secured a new, dedicated venue in Crystal City, VA, through a partnership with Vornado/Charles E. Smith and the Crystal City Business Improvement District.

THE TEAM

Paata Tsikurishvili, Founding Artistic Director and CEO

Yulia Kriskovets, Chief Operating Officer

Liz O’Meara-Goldberg, Marketing Manager

Meg Maxwell, Director of Education and Family Programs

Monica Jilling, Administrative Assistant

Steve Langley, House Manager

Maria Benzie, Box Office Manager

Irina Tsikurishvili, Founder and Resident Choreographer

Irakli Kavsadze, Producing Director

Ben Cunis, Artistic Associate

Konstantine Lortkipanidze, Resident Composer