One-Man Act

Dario Fo’s "Obscene Fables"

Harlquin tells obscene, unabashedly riotous, funny and naughty stories based on texts by Dario Fo. They are
unadulterated, hearty, lusty, and intense!

Arkadas Theater: “Obscene Fables”, a play based on Dario Fo.

Nobel laureate Dario Fo, has rediscovered the fool for the stage. Fo’s “Obscene Fables” are spontaneous theater at its best. Displaying the purest joy in play-acting, actor Christian Schramm adopts a variety of diverse roles and tells the stories of men and women, their erotic dreams and sexual fantasies with wit and irony. This is unadulterad, hearty, lusty and intense theater!

Staging: Ali Jalaly with Christian Schramm

The P R E S S

His facial expressiveness is reminiscent of Jerry Lewis
christianschrammThe performance of Dario Fo’s "Obscene Fables" at the Arkadas-Theater begins quite enjoyably with the rather dense goat herd Pietro, who at first fears the “Moth Mice” that flutter under women’s skirts, but, once emboldened, greedily stumbles from one silly prank to the next. It is a comical story, full of mischief and high-spirited wit, and humorously told. In his facial expressiveness, Schramm is sometimes even reminiscent of Jerry Lewis.

Kölner Stadtanzeiger april 2002
Everything he does is fresh and spontaneous
christianschrammSchramm has a gripping physical presence. Not one person is drowsing off at the Offenburg Spitalkeller, which is filled to the last seat. Schramm’s characters are concisely drawn, and his language and expression are precise. His artfulness makes everything feel fresh and spontaneous, as if acted off-the-cuff. Schramm gives it his everything: he plays the mandolin, walks on his hands, prances around as a ballerina, distributes pithy kicks as a Ninja warrior, coos as a hopeful lover, and assumes the characteristics of the TV narrator-entertainer. He assumes all these roles seamlessly. His transformation from his role of a naive, love-crazed farm boy into a true-to-life donkey is a masterpiece. These twenty seconds alone would have been worth the price of admission.

Badische Zeitung october 2002
Arkadas-Theater shows Dario Fo
The staging is highly idiosyncratic and unusual. The stories about a guileless, cuckolded shepherd and the vagaries of the human sex drive are based on material from antiquity and the Middle Ages. They are brought to life by Christian Schramm in an impressive solo performance as he retells them in the traditions of the itinerant juggler and the fool. Kudos to Schramm for this full-body tour-de-force on a large, nearly empty stage! This is not a monologue, but a kaleidoscopic revelry in multiple roles. We rarely see this type of elemental form of theater any more, but in this case, "Obscene is beautiful!"

Kölner Stadtrevue june 2002
A master of Facial Expressiveness
Great theater is rooted in small things ... no sets, few props, sparse décor. The play, “Obscene Fables” by Dario Fo works only because of the power, the expressiveness, the charisma of the artist on stage; it works because of the actor’s ability to bring to life scenes seemingly ‘off-the-cuff”. This is particularly true of Fo, who tends to leave the artist a great deal of freedom to improvise in his plays. Such freedom is an opportunity, but only a true master can avail himself of it. Christian Schramm, a former resident of Offenburg, is such a master. Music, acrobatics, facial expressiveness – Schramm has it all. Always fully engaged, he does not let up even for a moment, keeping his audience completely enthralled and drawing it into the events on stage. Schramm succeeds masterfully. It was a delightful evening!

Offenburger Tageblatt march 2003