Arts & Entertainment
Starting the conversation
Whitman-Walker plans series of LGBT-specific health meetings
Whitman-Walker's June Crenshaw and Don Blanchon at a previous event. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Whitman-Walker Health is planning a series of LGBT-specific town hall-style events this year called Community Conversations. The first, slated for Thursday at the Clinic’s Elizabeth Taylor Center (1701 14th Street, NW), is dubbed “New Year, New Start: Substance Abuse.”
“Throughout our history, Whitman-Walker has worked to meet the unique health care needs of the LGBT community,” Don Blanchon, the Clinic’s executive director, said in a statement. “One of our goals … is to empower participants with the knowledge and resources to improve not only their health but the health of the family, friends and loved ones around them.”
Chip Lewis, the Clinic’s deputy director of communications, says the series was Blanchon’s idea and that he wanted “a mechanism to build this dialogue between Whitman-Walker and the community.” Chris Dyer, an LGBT liaison in former Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration, suggested the format.
Lewis says the staff hopes the series is a two-way street.
“It’s an opportunity to start a dialogue with the community about health issues it faces,” he says. “It can help us present the LGBT health issues that we service but we also want to hear from them and find out what they’re seeing and hearing about. It’s an opportunity for a dialogue for Whitman-Walker and the larger LGBT community as a whole.”
Thursday’s panelists are treatment advocate Jimmy Garza, addictions counselor Christina Oseth and nightlife impresario Ed Bailey. Moderator Josh Reilly is manager of addiction treatment programs for Whitman-Walker. The discussion starts at 7 p.m. It’s free and open to the pubic and those interested in attending will be directed to the meeting room from the front lobby.
Nine conversations are planned. A Feb. 23 discussion on “healthier hookups” will also be at the Elizabeth Taylor Center. On March 29, “Why Safe Sex Matters” will be held at the True Reformer Building and on April 30, “Aging and the LGBT Community” will be at the D.C. Center. Dates and locations are still being set for the remaining installments. Topics slated include “Women’s Health,” “Take Pride in Your Health,” “HIV Testing,” “I’m a Survivor: Living Long Term With HIV” and “Transgender Health.” Go to whitman-walker.org for more information. The Blade will also run details as they are announced.
Lewis says things are going well for the Clinic overall and he expects that it will soon be announced that 2011 was another successful year. It’s now operating “in the black” (there was a half-million-dollar surplus in 2010 Lewis says) after finishing 2007 and 2008 millions in the hole. The numbers for 2009 found the Clinic running a $750,000 deficit. Revenue sources have changed and Medicare, Medicaid and pharmacy sales have provided a more stable source of revenue, he says.
But misconceptions abound about the Clinic, Lewis says. A broadening of services has “de-gayed” the Clinic, some critics have claimed, but Lewis says a higher percentage of those seeking services today self-identity as LGBT than a few years ago (it’s about half, he says).
“You can come here for mental health, support groups, primary care, gynecological care — there was a sense for a long time that this was just where you went if you were facing HIV and AIDS and that’s never really been the case,” Lewis says. “[These Conversations] are another opportunity for us to get across to people that we offer a lot of health services.”
The Community Conversations are expected to last between one and two hours depending on the number of questions and comments.
The 2026 Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather competition was held at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill on Sunday. Seven contestants vied for the title and Gage Ryder was named the winner.
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Theater
Voiceless ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ a spectacle of operatic proportions
Synetic production pulls audience into grips of doomed lovers’ passion
‘Antony & Cleopatra’
Through Jan. 25
Synetic Theater at
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre
450 7th St., N.W.
Synetictheater.org
A spectacle of operatic proportions, Synetic Theater’s “Antony & Cleopatra” is performed entirely voiceless. An adaptation of the Bard’s original (a play bursting with wordplay, metaphors, and poetic language), the celebrated company’s production doesn’t flinch before the challenge.
Staged by Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili, this worthy remount is currently playing at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, the same venue where it premiered 10 years ago. Much is changed, including players, but the usual inimitable Synectic energy and ingenuity remain intact.
As audiences file into the Klein, they’re met with a monumental pyramid bathed in mist on a dimly lit stage. As the lights rise, the struggle kicks off: Cleopatra (Irina Kavsadze) and brother Ptolemy (Natan-Maël Gray) are each vying for the crown of Egypt. Alas, he wins and she’s banished from Alexandria along with her ethereal black-clad sidekick Mardian (Stella Bunch); but as history tells us, Cleopatra soon makes a triumphant return rolled in a carpet.
Meanwhile, in the increasingly dangerous Rome, Caesar (memorably played by Tony Amante) is assassinated by a group of senators. Here, his legendary Ides of March murder is rather elegantly achieved by silver masked politicians, leaving the epic storytelling to focus on the titular lovers.
The fabled couple is intense. As the Roman general Antony, Vato Tsikurishvili comes across as equal parts warrior, careerist, and beguiled lover. And despite a dose of earthiness, it’s clear that Kavsadze’s Cleopatra was born to be queen.
Phil Charlwood’s scenic design along with Colin K. Bills’ lighting cleverly morph the huge pyramidic structure into the throne of Egypt, the Roman Senate, and most astonishingly as a battle galley crashing across the seas with Tsikurishvili’s Antony ferociously at the helm.
There are some less subtle suggestions of location and empire building in the form of outsized cardboard puzzle pieces depicting the Mediterranean and a royal throne broken into jagged halves, and the back-and-forth of missives.
Of course, going wordless has its challenges. Kindly, Synectic provides a compact synopsis of the story. I’d recommend coming early and studying that page. With changing locations, lots of who’s who, shifting alliances, numerous war skirmishes, and lack of dialogue, it helps to get a jump on plot and characters.
Erik Teague’s terrific costume design is not only inspired but also helpful. Crimson red, silver, and white say Rome; while all things Egyptian have a more exotic look with lots of gold and diaphanous veils, etc.
When Synetic’s voicelessness works, it’s masterful. Many hands create the magic: There’s the direction, choreography, design, and the outrageously committed, sinewy built players who bring it to life through movement, some acrobatics, and the remarkable sword dancing using (actual sparking sabers) while twirling to original music composed by Konstantine Lortkipanidze.
Amid the tumultuous relationships and frequent battling (fight choreography compliments of Ben Cunis), moments of whimsy and humor aren’t unwelcome. Ptolemy has a few clownish bits as Cleopatra’s lesser sibling. And Antony’s powerful rival Octavian (ageless out actor Philip Fletcher) engages in peppy propaganda featuring a faux Cleopatra (played by Maryam Najafzada) as a less than virtuous queen enthusiastically engaged in an all-out sex romp.
When Antony and Cleopatra reach their respective ends with sword and adder, it comes almost as a relief. They’ve been through so much. And from start to finish, without uttering a word, Kavsadze and Tsikurishvili share a chemistry that pulls the audience into the grips of the doomed lovers’ palpable passion.
Out & About
Love board games and looking for love?
Quirk Events will host “Board Game Speed Dating for Gay Men” on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at KBird DC.
Searching for a partner can be challenging. But board games are always fun. So what if you combined board games and finding a partner?
Picture this: You sit down for a night of games. A gaming concierge walks you through several games over the course of the night. You play classics you love and discover brand new games you’ve never heard of, playing each with a different group of fun singles. All while in a great establishment.
At the end of the night, you give your gaming concierge a list of the folks you met that you’d like to date and a list of those you met that you’d like to just hang out with as friends. If any two people put down the same name as each other in either column, then your gaming concierge will make sure you get each other’s e-mail address and you can coordinate a time to hang out.
Tickets cost $31.80 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
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