Arts & Entertainment
Synetic expands tableau
‘Dorian Gray’ intersperses dialogue with company’s signature moves
The cast of Synetic’s ‘Picture of Dorian Gray.’ The production represents a bold move for the company. (Photo courtesy Synetic)
‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’
Through Nov. 3
Synetic Theater
1800 South Bell Street, Crystal City
$35 and up
866-811-4111
Synetictheater.org
In adapting Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Synetic Theater turns its attention to that eternal nagging question: What price beauty? The 1891 work, Wilde’s only novel, chronicles the downfall of a handsome Londoner who trades his soul to remain eternally young. While Dorian never ages, his physical decline and moral purification is reflected in a portrait tucked safely away in the attic. Tempting tradeoff, eh?
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it,” advises decadent Lord Henry (Joseph Carlson) to his willing young student Dorian (Dallas Tolentino). And yield Dorian does: he enthusiastically tastes all the pleasures that the British metropolis has to offer, tragically seducing young actresses, damaging the reputations of respectable married ladies and bedding their sons. He dips into opium, orgies, blackmail and along the way develops an increasingly cruel edge that takes him from pleasure seeking fop to cold-hearted killer.
Typically Synetic follows a fast-paced mostly mute, 90-minute formula. Many past productions have succeeded using this recipe. For “Dorian Gray,” they’ve veered from the course. At two-and-a-half hours, it combines spates of wordy dialogue intercut with choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili’s endlessly imaginative, athletic dance movement for which the company is best known.
And though heavier on witticisms and lyricism than action (despite a murder-filled plotline), “Dorian Gray’s” poetry and foray into the unreal give director Paata Tsikurishvili a lot to play with. Rather than a static painting, the picture is portrayed by Synetic veteran Philip Fletcher, allowing Dorian to interact and struggle with his likeness — these curious and sometimes combative interactions are the most interesting part of the play. As the portrait, Fletcher (who is gay) changes from enigmatically beautiful to hideously debauched, effectively demonstrating Dorian’s excessively naughty behavior. Fletcher’s is a strong and graceful performance.
With his gravity defying backside and enviable abs, Tolendo’s Dorian is the envy of his contemporaries including besotted portraitist and eventual victim Basil (Robert Bowen Smith) and Lord Henry who revels in his ageless friend’s possibilities to continue on a path of evil indefinitely. But despite a good long run of nastiness, Dorian grows tired and reconsiders his wicked ways.
Daniel Pinha’s versatile set is made up of stark metal frames suspended at different heights, beautifully fostering a complete multimedia experience. It’s clear from Coin K. Bills’ wonderfully evocative lighting and Kendra Rai’s gorgeous late Victorian costumes and orgy gear (including Dorian’s tight pleather briefs) that Synetic’s once shallow pockets have grown deservedly deeper in recent years.
While Wilde identified with Dorian, Basil and Lord Harry, his most worldly, pithiest philosophies are voiced through the self-serving aristocrat Lord Henry, haughtily delivered by Carlson. Maxims spoken to Dorian include “there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about,” and “to get back my youth, I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early or be respectable.”
Other than Wilde’s clever words, the play is mostly devoid of wit, which seems a missed opportunity since Synetic productions are typically peppered with amusing movement bits. Here, they take their decadence and immorality quite seriously.
And while the exchanges between Carlson’s Lord Henry and Tolentino Dorian gives insight into the title character’s motives and emotional turmoil, the play’s best moment are not spoken. And though this production is without Synetic’s more virtuosic choreographic moves, there are moments of sheer ingenuity. For instance, when Dorian visits an opium den, Irina Tsikurishvili uses splattered Day-Glo paint and a plastic screen to transform one more orgy gone wrong into a stunningly dramatic tableau. It’s just another inspired Synetic moment. And this is why even though “Dorian Gray” is not the company’s most sterling effort, it’s still something beautiful and not to be missed.
The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Washington Blade held its 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Friday, May 16. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke along with State Sen. Russ Huxtable, CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey, Blade Editor Kevin Naff, and Clear Space Theatre Managing Director Joe Gfaller. The event raises funds for the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which was awarded to AU student Abigail Hatting.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.
Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”
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