Resa Fantastiskt Mystisk 

Reviewed by Terry Morgan 
Burglars of Hamm (Hollywood Fringe Festival) 
Extended through July 1 

RECOMMENDED 

One of the pleasures of the Hollywood Fringe Festival is discovering something genuinely original amid the minefield of one-person shows. The Burglars of Hamm’s revival of its 1999 production of Resa Fantastiskt Mystisk, written by obscure Swedish playwright Lars Mattsun, is one of these finds. It is a clever skewering of pretension that’s laugh out loud funny.

The show begins with director Todd Merrill explaining who Mattsun was (a 19th-century writer convinced that August Strindberg, “the Great Corruptor,” had stolen his limelight) and why Merrill has chosen to adapt, direct, and choreograph this play. He’s given the audience headphones so he can comment throughout the show, to make sure we “get it.”

The play proper follows the travails of artist Philip (Tim Kopacz), who is about to be married to the unfortunate Mariah (Laura Nicole Harrison), who has many unexplained maladies. He is expected to give up his art to become a clerk once he’s hitched, which he dreads, and beyond that he’s not certain he’s worthy of being an artist. But then he has a dream and meets The Mysterious Child (Moira Rogers), who guides him through a series of prophetic visions.

All the while Merrill comments over the headphones, talking over the actors’ lines, reading poetry, sharing tidbits about an actor (“That’s my wife!”), and getting increasingly upset about the production’s flaws (“This is why we rehearse, people!”). All of this comes to a head in a post-show discussion, in which many of the conflicts simmering beneath the surface of the production are hilariously revealed.

Kopacz gives an admirably committed performance as Philip, fully expressing the outsized ambitions of Mattsun’s drama with passionate line readings and over-the-top physicality. Harrison is good in multiple roles, but is especially memorable as the timid Mariah or as “herself” in the post-show confab. Rogers is essentially perfect as the Mysterious Child, embodying both the guileless joy and underlying spookiness of the character simultaneously.

Scott Leggett is inspired in several roles, particularly as the wildly gesticulating “Color” and a cat, while Jon Beauregard is very funny as an actor who gradually makes it clear that he hates the director. But it’s Merrill that steals the show, delivering his smug commentary that descends into ever more frustrated complaints with terrific comedic timing and flair.

Albert Dayan’s directorial assistance is expert – for just one example, managing to make the actors speak more quietly every time Merrill is talking on the headphones, although they can’t see him offstage, which is no small feat. The Burglars of Hamm team (Carolyn Almos, Matt Almos, Jon Beauregard, Joel Marshall, Todd Merrill, Katharine Noon, Victor Ortado, Laura Otis, and Selina Merrill) that helped bring the venerable Mattsun’s writing to modern-day life deserves credit for both a brilliant concept and surpassing wit (upon smelling the nearby presence of a corpse, a character declares, “Now I know that the foul odor of death has made a dance floor of my nostrils.”).

Resa Fantastiskt Mystisk is a smart, funny delight, and definitely one of the highlights of this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. Don’t miss it, or you might never know what is true or deliberately misleading about this review.

The Broadwater Main Stage, 1076 Lillian Way., Los Angeles; June 8, 8 p.m.; June 9, 2:30 p.m.; June 16, 9 p.m.; June 17, 8 p.m.; June 20, 9 p.m.; June 22, 7:30 p.m.; Extended through July 1. www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/508. Running time: approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes with no intermission.