Vato Tsikurishvili (Johnny Shryock)
Perhaps it’s not surprising that the company who has mastered wordless Shakespeare can tackle Victor Hugo without a script. The latest classic to get the silent, Synetic Theater treatment is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Director-choreographer team Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili leave Hugo’s brooding, romantic language aside for a primal, moody world where a cathedral comes to life—complete with writhing gargoyles.
The plot may not be as familiar as some of Synetic’s other works (those who know only the Disney version are in for a much darker play than they might expect, including a tragic ending). Hunchback is the story of the sequestered Quasimodo (Vato Tsikurishvili), disfigured, deaf, mute, and living a lonely life under the gaze of Dom Claude Frollo (Philip Fletcher), the deacon of the cathedral.
Quasimodo and Frollo become fixated on the gypsy Esmerelda (Irina Kavsadze), a woman in the midst of her own love triangle with a musician she’s promised to and a captain she pines for. Frollo’s lustful, deepening obsession with Esmerelda has tragic consequences for all.
The imposing, rotating setting makes for some impressive visual moments, especially when the church whips around to show the hunchback poised to leap and confront the angry mob after him. It’s one of many stunning scenes, including an intricate dance where Esmerelda is bound by long, taut ropes, as well as a fiery attempted-execution scene. A haunting score from Konstantine Lortkipanidze combines electronic rhythms with hymnal influences.
Synetic has assembled a strong group of principals—Kavsadze lends a girlish innocence to the sought-after Esmerelda, while Fletcher drills down the sinister nature of Frollo. But at the center of it all is the hulking, pitiable Quasimodo, to whom Vato Tsikurishvili lends compassion and depth. In one tender scene, Quasimodo and Esmerelda gleefully ring the cathedral’s bells, a rare glimmer of inhibited joy for the star-crossed pair, and one that foreshadows a much more jarring and chilling scene to come in the same romantic yet foreboding place. The hunchback is a humble part, but a star performance.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame runs through June 11 at Synetic Theater. $35-60. Buy tickets here.
