Synetic's 'As You Like It' stretches the Bard, and the audience's patience

When in the spring of 2002 it began the delightful series that has become its signature -- movement-based interpretations of Shakes­peare, performed without dialogue -- Synetic Theater went big. Its first toe in what turned out to be a bountifully refreshing pool was a remarkably expressive, 90-minute compression of "Hamlet." The success of that venture spawned a cottage industry for Synetic's artistic leaders, Paata Tsikurishvili and his wife, Irina, who over the ensuing years have churned mor...