Even if you’ve never read Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy,” you’ll know where Synetic Theater’s new production is set: in the deepest recesses of hell, with a brief peek into purgatory and a short vision of a beatific heaven.
Yet this “Dante” is not a word-for-word representation of Dante’s long, detailed study of the afterlife, but a surrealistic vision of Dante and some of his most vividly imagined damnations, adapted from the original by Ben Cunis, Nathan Weinberger and director Paata Tsikurishvili.
With its loose, episodic structure, “Dante” is a perfect vehicle for the Synetic Theater, with its preference for physical rather than verbal explorations. Dante (Ben Cunis) and his guide Virgil (Greg Marzullo) do speak, but they primarily dance, move and fight for their lives amid all the lost and corrupted souls, demons, devils and Satan himself.
There are 12 scenes in this production and 18 cast members, most of whom perform more than one role. They are powerfully and precisely choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili, who has the actors writhe, couple, contort and build two-tiered monsters in the most muscular and inventive ways.
By definition, a descent into unrelenting psychological hell can’t contain many light scenes, but “Dante” includes some very funny 8-foot-tall characters who have lost their heads, false prophets whose heads face backward on their bodies, and two men who morph into gigantic red and black spiders.
One of the strongest elements in this show is the original music by Konstantine Lortkipanidze. Anastasia Ryurikov Simes’ costumes are breathtaking concoctions of silk, fur, leather, gauze and glitter.
“Dante” is not easy to watch: There are visions of every kind of human degradation and humiliation, and the scenes occasionally blend into one another and run on too long.
But given the fact that Paata Tsikurishvili’s aim is to build up the “map” of man’s “inner landscape,” each uncomfortable image adds to the detail of that geography, becoming a graphic reminder of the human condition and the ways in which we all contain the potential to join Dante’s lost and unforgiven characters.
If you go
“Dante”
Where: Rosslyn Spectrum, 1611 N. Kent St., Rosslyn
When: 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday through March 22
Info: $15 to $40; 800-494-8497; synetictheater.org
