Potomac Stages Review

September 13 - October 1, 2006

Frankenstein

Running time 1:30 - no intermission
A Potomac Stages Pick for a highly visual, clear retelling of a classic tale
Performances in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre

In adapting Mary Shelley's classic tale of overreaching, this talented troupe has extended its own reach again. This extraordinary production has all the strengths of the best of their earlier work: the physical control each performer exhibits, the fluidity of movement, the starkly beautiful images and the haunting audio. But it uses more humor and more words to tell the story than has often been the case for their mainstage adult pieces. This is in no way a rejection of the style that was so impressive in Hamlet...The Rest is Silence where theatrical magic was created entirely without words. It is an addition to the set of tools used by Paata Tsikurishvili, and Nathan Weinberger who is collaborating with him for the second time. True to the multi-tasking the troupe uses, Weinberger is also in the ensemble, Tsikurishvili plays Frankenstein's teacher and Irakli Kavsadze plays the creature and also designed the sound with Tsikurishvili. What ends up on the stage has the fine feel of ensemble collaboration.

Storyline: Victor Frankenstein experiments with the creation of life, finally succeeding in creating a living being from cadaverous pieces. The experiment goes terribly bad, however. The creature, a pure innocent, doesn't know its own strength and ends up killing the good doctor's teacher, his sister and his bride, all the while being pursued by the townspeople who view him as a murderous monster.

Irakli Kavsadze uses all of his strengths to create a touching creature, an innocent infant in a massively powerful body, whose emotional needs are so misunderstood and so tragically unmet, while his strength makes the consequences of his frustrations and confusions tragic. Any good actor can stomp around a stage demonstrating confusion, affection, anger and the like, and Kavsadze certainly is a good actor. It is his mastery of the unique performance style of the Tsikurishvili's blend of athleticism and dance that adds a special touch, however. His carefully choreographed, nearly balletic slow motion fights are as good as they are because of the contributions of creature and victim in each instance. Notable, too, is the humor of Tsikurishvili's performance as the professor. His use of a cane is unique but hard to describe in words.

Music is such a significant part of every Synetic production that it, too, is often hard to describe in fresh words. The score for this production was composed by Konstantine Lortkipanidze and Aaron Forbes who were responsible for the score of Faust last Spring. It has some of the contemporary symphonic and chamber sound found in earlier Synetic productions, but also jazz combo piano and drum segments that add a dash of a different spice at important moments and choral work for the wedding scene which adds depth.

Fittingly, the principal set feature is a web in which the good doctor's efforts get tangled. It hangs at the back of the stage, catching the multi-colored lights, sparkling in the flashes of lightning both natural and scientific, and forming the barrier that traps Frankenstein in the complications of his own ambitions. Stage fog is somewhat overused, but often the stark emptiness of the stage is highlighted by the clarity of Colin K. Bills' lights. As always, this Synetic production leaves lingering visual memories.

Adapted by Nathan Weinberger and Paata Tsikurishvili from the novel by Mary Shelley. Directed by Paata Tsikurisvili. Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili. Original music by Konstantine Lortkipanidze and Aaron Forbes. Vocal Direction by Elizabeth van den Berg. Design: Anastasia R. Simes (set and costumes) Shawn Quick (creature effects) Colin K. Bills (lights) Irakli Kavsadze and Paata Tsikurishvili (sound) Raymond Gniewek (photography). Cast: Madeleine Carr, Matthew Eisenberg, Philip Fletcher, Meghan Grady, Katherine E. Hill, Dan Istrate, Niki Jacobsen, Irakli Kavsadze, John Milosich, Geoff Nelson, Courtney Pauroso, Armand Sindoni, Paata Tsikurisvhili, Nathan Weinberger,  Andrew Zox.