Dante (his view)

I was very excited to see Dante at Synetic Theatre, as I have a very great appreciation for the Italian poet and his works.  I'll preface this by saying I have read Dante's Divine Comedy multiple times and studied it heavily in my comp lit days in college.  To that end, I will say that the show presented at Synetic is a visually moving and emotional piece that will keep you riveted for the entire 90-minutes.  However, do not expect the Divine Comedy.  

The piece is roughly based on the first portion of the Comedy, the Inferno.  In this book (and in Dante), the poet Dante is guided by Virgil through the Nine Circles of Hell to see the punishments given to those who sin.  Synetic's version includes 12 Scenes all of which take place mostly in Hell.  The other two books of the Comedy are only given tiny previews in the twelfth scene where Dante walks around the terraces of Purgatory and finally ascends to Heaven in a tableau.  However, in the original poem, much more happens in Purgatory and Heaven, including Dante's face-to-face meeting with God and his attempts to understand the Trinity of God.  

I will give much credit to Synetic for attempting a piece of this magnitude.  As the director stated in his notes, to do the entire Divine Comedy is not what they set out to do.  They set out to take the Inferno (basically) and use it to project the inner soul and torments of Dante and, in essence, of man.  To this effect, they did a reasonable job of portraying the emotional side of Dante.  What I wish they could have included was the egotistical, politically satirical, and witty Dante that is present in the poem.  Dante includes many political and religious satires and very poignant verses in the poem that get passed over for more emotional and raw sections.  Dante was also a very egotistical man writing a comedy in which he alone meets God, understands the afterlife, and is asked by many prominent figures to pity them and tell the world of their misery so that others may not suffer the same fate.  It is a very Christ-like position to put one's self in, and Dante puts himself there often in the book.  

But enough about the missed opportunities from book to stage.  The show at Synetic is worth seeing.  The entire cast does a marvelous job portraying the emotions and visceral moments of the piece and in executing the technically mind-blowing choreography and movement.  The spiral, endless-seeming set with plenty of trap doors provides a hellish canvas upon which the cast paints their own moving pictures.  The music, which is nearly throughout the entire piece, provides a glimpse at some of the sounds of hell, as well as serves to help support the choreography and movement on stage.  

When all is said and done, those who know Dante very well will probably want more out of it but will still be blown away at the visual artistry of the piece.  Those who do not know and Dante may want to go home and start reading right away.  Either way, you cannot go wrong heading out to Rossyln and seeing this worthy theatrical piece.  

Dante runs through March 22nd at the Rosslyn Spectrum in Arlington.  

Dante (her view)

Dante at Synetic Theatre in D.C.

So let me start this one off by saying I was drug to this show. I'm not a fan of Dante's the Divine Comedy but the boy is so off we went.  Make sure you mapquest the directions because this theatre is hard to find, especially for the folks from Baltimore. I'm pretty sure we almost died in traffic circles at least 3 times, and they say 2nd exit but it is not marked in any real way. Synetic is currently using the facilities of the Rossyln Spectrum. The theatre itself is large enough to be taken seriously but small enough to still feel intimate. Our seats would have been awesome, Row J center (and there is a small break so LOTS of leg room), but the theatre was filming that night and put the camera dead center of the theatre.  (THEATRE'S: This really annoys patrons, let alone the lack of organization in helping those who were sold seats behind this lady's butt. Do us all a favor and just don't sell those seats)

The set for this show was simplistic but stunning. The show starts off slow but I promise it is not Dante the ballet which is what I thought, they will eventually speak. Visually this show is stunning. The movement, use of music, and costumes all really do create a scene. Past that you really do end up in Dante's hell. The show feels long and if you don't know the story it is really hard to know what is going on at any given time. Please read the program before you go in or you will be utterly lost the whole time. If you can get captivated in the movement of the piece and forget the story you stand a little more chance of enjoying it (Watch for the new use of plastic wrap about half way through). 

Ladies you will enjoy watching the adorable man that plays Dante, he will make you love the art of mime. When he mimes crawling up a wall just watch his muscles, it is just hot. And I feel bad for the poor girl who twice has to come out basically naked. It really does not enhance the show or mood in anyway and it seems like they just added it to be edgy, it didn't work. 

All in all, if you like dance and contemporary movement pieces you will love this show. It really is visually stunning and worth the technical aspects. But the story falls short so if you love Dante you may want to avoid this piece.

Welcome to the Blog

So have you ever thought about going to a show and were iffy on if you wanted to see it or not? Wondered where you would park, or if there was a secret to the directions? Curious if you should waste time, gas, and money on a particular show? Well welcome to our blog. We got tired of reviews from Broadwayworld.com and the Baltimore Sun, and the Washington Post. They all seem to want to print whatever will save their jobs but not really tell about the integrity of a show (or lack there of). 

That's where we come in. Whenever we leave a show 8 out of 10 times we have different views on the show. So we thought we would start giving you the real lowdown on local theatre. Is it worth your time, should you take a date there, and some other nuances. We will focus mainly on Baltimore and D.C. theatre . This is also a way for us to find the enjoyment again, working in the industry you start to lose that enjoyment you once had and we are hopeful that this will force us to see more shows and let you all know about them.

Thanks, and let us know what you think!