Actor Irina Tsikurishvili in Outstanding Performances of Washington theatre season
Irina Tsikurishvili as Phantom and Maryam Najafzada as Christine in ‘Phantom of the Opera’ at Synetic Theater. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
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US-based Georgian actor and Synetic Theater co-founder Irina Tsikurishvili has been named in Outstanding Performances in Washington, DC area by the staff of the DC Metro Theater Arts review website.
The stage art coverage platform published its list of DCMTA Spring 2020 Staff Favourites, where Tsikurishvili's appearance in the Synetic Theater's staging of Phantom of the Opera is praised as an "unforgettable pas-de-deux".
Cast in the principal role of the adaptation of the novel of the same title by Gaston Leroux, the actor received critical acclaim in a DC Metro review of the production in February, for her "dark brilliance".
Now the performance has been recognised in the selection by the publication promoted as "Washington, DC’s most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage".
From her first unforgettable turn as Ophelia in Synetic’s signature production of Hamlet, Irina Tsikurishvili has been a stunning, dramatic presence on the DC stage."
[T]he decision to pair her older self with her younger, ingenue self (played gorgeously by Lotti Guidi, in her first turn with Synetic) created an unforgettable pas-de-deux of the kind that often plays out in our heads, as we contrast our younger selves with what we have now become," said the review by Andrew Walker White.
The production also received praise from Walker White as a " truly rewarding re-setting of this famous tale". It was staged at the company co-founded by Irina and Paata Tsikurishvili, two artists who moved to the United States in the 1990s.
Their work on the troupe has been recognised with various prizes and critical acclaim, including for their staging of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (review by Washington Post) and three awards from 23 nominations for the Helen Hayes Awards.
The DCMTA staff favourites list is usually compiled at end of theatre season, however the reviewers adapted to the reality of performing venue closures due to the global coronavirus pandemic and published their selections for the spring season instead.