40 years of joint artistic journey
This season, Riitta Havukainen and Eija Vilpas star in two comedies, The Angry Widow on the Main Stage and Le Coq – The Battle for a Restaurant on the Arena Stage.
Artists Riitta Havukainen and Eija Vilpas , who have been performing together for 40 years now, have become beloved figures by the whole nation over the decades, both on the theatre stage and on the television screen, as Hansu and Pirre, touring around Finland.
Havukainen and Vilpas met each other for the first time during the entrance exams of the Student Theatre in 1979.
“Afterwards, I thought about how friendship can be ignited like a light in the heart. Somehow, I understood that that person will surely be of great importance in my life. This is a kind of relationship,” Vilpas says.
“This has been the most lasting friendship I’ve had, Eija is my longest-standing friend,” Havukainen sums up.
The duo’s acting journey was given a stroke of luck at the beginning of their careers, when they developed their own characters for the Fakta job.
“The fact became a TV series, a film and a play for the Helsinki City Theatre. Riitta and I also went gigging, and that journey has been going on for over 30 years. Touring has been a livelihood for us and an extremely fun way to do things together,” Vilpas says.
According to Havukainen, Fakta homma, Pirre and Hansu, have defined both of their lives as professionals. In a good way.
“The gigs are fun, and professionally it is a good counterbalance to the acting and performance culture of a big company. We have performed in terrible noises, Finlandia Hall and the Government Hall. From a drunken Christmas party crowd to a dignified state party audience,” Havukainen describes.
“At gigs, we often have to adapt things when the venues can be very thankless – there are no lights, no sound system, and the audience sits on different sides of the hall, so that not everyone can see or hear us. We have to fight against the circumstances. It’s also good for the actor’s rhythm to do a humorous gig, it teaches you to communicate with the audience.”
Are you the same as people in your private life?
Havukainen: We share the same mind in some things, I am a full Karelian and Eija is a half-Karelian. It’s quite a determining thing in the mentality of both of us. We are quite social people and we both withdraw when we want our own peace. We are also both animal lovers, Eija has dogs and a cat, I have two rabbits and I like horseback riding. We both long for that kind of rooted existence in nature and with animals. We are the godparents of each other’s children, and the attitude towards children and their lives is quite similar.
Vilpas: We are united by our love for animals, children and our own homes. We are on the same lines in how we talk about our children, how we think about their lives and what we wish for them. We also share a sense of humour, we may laugh at things that we can’t really even explain to another person. It has been a strong bond between us, since we first met.
Le Coq treats fine dining, but what does Eija/Riitta eat when they want to indulge?
Havukainen: Eija is a terribly good cook, she has been the mother of a large family all her life and has also prepared food for large groups on holidays. The children have always received warm food at home when their mother has been busy by the stove. Eija is especially a big fan of fish dishes, baked salmon is the best.
Vilpas: Riitta is a terribly good cook, and I’ve been eating her fluff. And when she has guests, she always plans to take the grill and fry the perch fillets.
Does Eija/Riitta have a favorite role that she would like to play?
Havukainen: I can’t say the name of the character, but Eija might want to make a strong, Minnacanthian or Mariajotun Finnish female character who is rooted and has humour and a lot to act. A real actor and not just some man’s mother or wife.
Vilpas: Riitta would probably like to act in a drama with depth and wide-ranging acting, a multidimensional portrait of an independent actor. Riitta is such an exciting and skilled actress. Maybe they would like to make an interesting story about a person, a survival story that makes you cry and laugh.
Is Eija/Riitta nervous before the performance? How does it show?
Havukainen: Visibly he is not nervous, but perhaps he is more focused than usual in the preview screenings. Many actors are more nervous as they get older, but for Eija, it has eased.
Vilpas: Riitta is usually not nervous, but if she is nervous, she concentrates. If we are sometimes sick and nervous that even if we faint during a performance, we say to each other that “this is just theatre”. Jouko Turkka always told us that “don’t worry, it will be ten o’clock anyway”, and Ansa Ikonen always said that “it won’t be long before the scandal was perfect”. So we encourage each other with humour.
Does he have a good luck thing that he always does before going on stage?
Havukainen: Eija concentrates on doing channel work. He makes cushion covers out of them, and people receive them as gifts. At gigs, Eija also often does crossword puzzles. We also talk about parts of the play that are good to go through textually in your own mind.
Vilpas: Riitta stretches and warms up her muscles, just like me. You have to wake up your body before you go on stage. We also open up the sound.
What does the general public not know about him?
Havukainen: Eija has a very strong nature side, and whenever possible, she retreats to her cottage in peace with the dogs and does things there. Eija is very unusually diligent at home and at the cottage, about 1,500 times more diligent than me. And there is one thing that the general public probably does not know about, which is that Eija knows everything about the Winter and Continuation Wars.
Vilpas: In public, Riitta is just the same as the two of us. He’s articulate and bold, but he also has that sensitive side – and I’ve seen it many times, of course. It shows sometimes on stage when he acts out a scene through his own sensitivity, and it’s always wonderful.
What is his favorite phrase?
Havukainen: “Oh well”. It means moving forward, and “terribly nice”.
Vilpas: Riitta has a phrase from Hans that also describes Riitta: “nice for everyone”.
What is he particularly good at? What are his feats?
Havukainen: Of course, it is obviously Pirre, but also, for example, Kallio’s glitter (HKT 1994) was insanely amazing. In a way, the character was Eija’s own creation, including the writing. It was a really iconic thing here at the Helsinki City Theatre, but Eija has many other hits as well.
Vilpas: I especially remember Brandt (HKT 1987), which Riitta did with Pekka Laiho . Riitta played a woman whose child had died, and she had a chest full of children’s clothes. It was insanely touching, and I feel like I wasn’t the same person after seeing it, it was such a powerful experience. Another strong role of Riitta was Fiddler on the Roof (HKT 2012). Riitta is a really skilled singer, and she has done many great roles in HKT. The Angry Widow (HKT 2019) is also a great work.
What’s your best way to support them if they’re having a hard time performing?
Havukainen: For us, supporting each other is often such that we can, for example, turn it around so that we can laugh about it. We don’t ask you directly if you’re having a hard time, but the matter splits the other way. When one of us is sometimes quieter or more thoughtful, he or she may wrestle with his or her own role work. You don’t want to touch it.
Vilpas: We may bounce things around with each other and get out of the situation that way. Or we are just silent. And if the other person wants to talk, then you can ask and listen. However, this is work and both do their own, it’s not much more than that.
What would you like to say about him to him?
Havukainen: Eija is my longest-standing, dear friend, and I immensely appreciate Eija’s professionalism and long career. He has done an insane amount of work for decades; in the theatre, at gigs, on TV and writing. Eija has also taken care of her family of three, the animals, the children’s hobbies and taught at school, all these diverse fields of work at the same time – and she is still in her right mind. I admire his immense energy and the power of life.
Vilpas: Riitta is a great actress, a wonderful friend and an absolutely wonderful mother to her children. Our friendship has been terribly important to me throughout my life, he is a gem. I admire his skill and courage.
Kari Martiala