The Hunchback Of Notre Dame - Trailer Music By Koki L. - Synetic Theater Production

‘Hunchback’ has been on our list for quite awhile now, and my aim with it is to not only get back to basics, but also, in the process, to challenge ourselves and our audiences’ perception of Synetic. We’ve done so much Silent Shakespeare, but I was excited to discover that this new genre we’ve invented can extend to other world classics, that these can be taken “beyond words” as well. As with the themes of some of our earliest productions, the emotions conveyed in ‘Hunchback’ are absolutely archetypal, iconic, primal, and epic. Lust, loneliness, fate—it’s a lot to tackle, but I think it can all be encompassed by staging the novel symbolically, through visuals: An organ and a massive cross as the “heart” of Notre Dame Cathedral, the Cathedral’s gargoyles not as just statues, but as living extensions of Frollo’s psyche and the manifestation of his inner conflict. For me, this is a story about corruption—specifically, how Frollo becomes corrupted over time. I think the general perception of him naturally tends to be very dark, but I want to show his lighter side too, his journey: How his isolation in Notre Dame leads to a complete loss of self–a void which his power and position, as well as the gargoyles, fill, as manifestations of his suppressed and corrupted desires and conflicts. Most of all, I was fascinated with the “triangle” of Frollo, Quasimodo, and Esmeralda. On the one hand, you have these two examples of perfect purity in Quasimodo and Esmeralda–Quasimodo’s innocence and Esmeralda’s unbending freedom and honesty. In their own unique ways, these are very honest, pure characters. But linking them together is Frollo, someone who has become completely corrupted by power, and with tragic irony, also by Esmeralda–an example of innocence, goodness, and honesty. This is such a powerful contradiction, and yet it somehow all makes perfect dramatic sense. –Paata Tsikurishvili