Kharmful Charms of Daniil Kharms

Great actors! I liked the costume and sound effects, too! ... full review

What a weird, delightful, magical show! I so thoroughly enjoyed it. The cast is enormously talented, a true ensemble, feeding off each others' energy, morphing from character to character. The live music is INCREDIBLE! It touched me on such a vicersal level, and was an integral part of the performance. It really gave this show a full-bodied depth and beauty. My favorite part was the use of simple stage magic. No fancy special effects, but through creative theatre, so many truly magical moments were manifested. I did not feel that I needed any background on Daniil Kharms (on whose absurd short stories this piece is based) to enjoy and engage with the show. That being said, a part of me wished for a wee bit more narrative. I lo... full review

Great ! I would love to see more Kharms plays. This group did a great job interpreting him. Thanks for the laughs !... full review

" Kharmful Charms or Daniil Kharms" is a real jewel of a theatre experience. Charming and genuine. The unique style of Daniil Kharms- who is considered by art historians the first absurdist in the world - has been rendered by Schkapfians in such authentic, amazing visual messages. The short stories/humoresques of Kharms seem to be tough to imagine in any "physical" representation because they are rooted in paradox, in play of words and meanings annihilating each other. Later European absurdists( Ionesco, Beckett, etc.) developed very refined aesthetics of visual language suiting their theatre; but how to transfer the meta-visual, playfully abstract substance of Kharms' writings onto the stage without changing it into something more li... full review

I love the absurd, and this certainly has it in spades. Not to fixate on details, but the facepaint is brilliant! I love what it does to the actors' faces. If you like absurdism, this is for you!... full review

Absurd. Silly. Thought provoking. Fun. Mustaches. Soup. Go. ... full review

This darkly unhinged cabaret show delighted the hell out of me. As if Saturday Night Live were written by Brecht, Beckett and Buñuel. I knew nothing of Daniil Kharms going into the show. Thoroughly weird and enjoyable.... full review

Great show! Absolutely amazing actors. At times hilarious at other times very sad and always thought provoking. ... full review

*originally published on The Local Looking Glass at http://bit.ly/1m2KMSd* When I was drawn to what I was seeing in The Kharmful Charms of Daniil Kharms by ARTEL, I was disturbed but then later delighted with myself. The show, directed by Olya Petrakova, runs at Schkapf as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival this year. Violence, gore, fear, terror—all of these were present in heaps. But oh, the whimsy, the color, the style with which they were illustrated…it was like watching the doom of humankind painted before your eyes in lavish textures and whimsical cartoon. It is at this point in a performance review that you will usually find some kind of plot summary, but alas (or perhaps hallelujah), Kharmful Charms outlays no such easily... full review