Synetic Brings House to Life
When watching Synetic Theater's take on The Fall of the House of Usher, it seems almost inevitable that the talented troupe would tackle the work. The themes and abstract nature of Poe's short story are keenly suited to Synetic's signature style, one of gothic moods and Irina Tsikurishvili's original, attention-grabbing choreography.
The story is familiar, of course: Edgar is summoned to the house of his friend Roderick, who claims he and his sister are suffering from some sort of affliction that seems tied to the Usher family's gloomy house. Edgar is drawn to Madeline, and realizes there's a strange undertone to the siblings' relationship. Illness claims Madeline, but her suffering and Roderick's further descent into madness doesn't stop there.
The living, pulsating nature of the House of Usher itself is what Synetic brings to life, whether it be in the ethereal, twitching shapes of the ghosts which haunt it, the creepy sounds and music which emit from it, the sweeps of black and flashes of light surrounding it. The house is physically represented by looming doors which can become coffins with a switch of light, and metaphorically by the five dancers charged with further embodying the house with their alternately graceful and jerky movements. It's a wonderful trick only Synetic could pull off, and is the cornerstone of this production, one of their finest in recent memory.
Nathan Weinberger and Paata Tsikurishvili have done a nice job adapting Poe's text, capturing the mood and further developing the characters while still leaving most of the show's impact to its choreography and atmosphere. As Edgar, Theodore Snead isn't much of a dancer, but he credibly reacts to the incredible things going on around him. Greg Marzullo has an interesting take on Roderick, emphasizing his twitchy eccentricities, while Irina Koval is a marvel as Madeline, commanding the stage at every moment with her lithe movements, her entrancing beauty, and her alternately coquettish and tortured demeanor.
But the House is the real star here, and Synetic's wonderfully integrated exploration of this concept, down to the play's explosive climax, make The Fall of The House Of Usher a perfectly macabre Halloween treat. The show runs through Oct 31 at Rosslyn Spectrum; tickets are available online.