These Russian clowns don't speak and yet everything is understood. It may well be the finest tribute that can be paid to the clown, at once traditional and contemporary, immersed in delightful Russian sensibilities.
It is a bit like following a family saga, but at the Addams.
The show recounts the joy, sudden folly, and survival strategy of individuals with a firm grip on the dilemmas faced in a family atmosphere. Love and chaos mix paradoxically with relationships between a flirtatious, pregnant mother, a responsible but alcoholic father who swings between nervous depression and urge to live, and their four adorable but dreadful children who seek their limits and push each other into corners.
At the Semianyki's, the domestic power struggle, both hilarious and exuberant, infects the audience and achieves emotional heights.