Review: Kultalampi
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seems to have liked the texts that have received a film boost, after all, it featured Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny a couple of years ago. Ernest Thompson was only a little under 30 years old when he wrote Kultalampi. The main role of the play is played by a person of grandparents’ age
a couple played in the film version (1981) by Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. Helsinki City Theatre and Arto af Hällström have relied on the charisma of Matti Ranin and Tea Ista in their stage interpretation
and charm. Both are actors in their habits – albeit completely different – whose stage personality dominates
more of a role than a role of a stage persona.
Largely based on Ranin and Ista’s evening at the Helsinki City Theatre’s Kultalampi will come. Ranin is a grumpy and self-centered, annoying stubborn
Humanity is the central tension of the play. Tea Ista is a balancing spouse who tolerates her husband and takes care of him more and more. Ista does her role as usual
gesticulating a little swaggeringly and speaking in a nasal voice. There is warmth and presence in both roles. The five acts of the play are divided into months of one summer. The couple comes to spend a long summer in the idyllic Kultalampi pond
summer villa. The other characters in the story are the couple’s 42-year-old, childless daughter, her latest boyfriend, his teenage son and
the local postman, who has been the heirloom of my daughter’s youth. There is one kind of codependency: the daughter always feels that when she meets her father, she is a girl who has never been
dared to grow up. The background is the pressure to perform projected from the father’s expectations. Detachment from the dominant father is not for the mother of the family
there has been no strength and understanding. The father gets a good resistance to his strenuous behavior from his daughter’s sturdy boyfriend and, on the other hand, flows into his tiring body
about a teenage boy’s joie de vivre. Thompson knows how to write everyday lines that fit into the actors’ mouths and effortlessly leads situations to the little ones
dramatic collisions.
There is a lot in the play human warmth and conflicts familiar from everyday life, which clearly resonate with the audience. The play is funny in a recognizable way, and Arto af Hällström transports situations recognizing the quips of the dialogue and the rhythm
controlling. Despite its warmth and psychological relevance, Ernest Thompson’s play is fundamentally quite light-hearted, psychological
realism. The dialogue is linguistically poor and, at worst, really flat in the way that today’s television succeeds. The performance lasts two hours and three quarters of an hour, which is half an hour too long. In addition to translating, the director could have
It also improves the play’s often lacklustre dramaturgy and reduces the atmosphere that slows down the rhythm. It’s no wonder that the film version
Thompson, among other things, added a boat accident.
The actors do deficient play, however. The sea bear-like Ranin and the nervous Ista are like Archie and Edith Bunker from the TV series Family Is the Worst . Jouko Klemettilä is skilled himself and squeezes a lot out of the small role of the giggling postman. Kristiina Halttu
expressively holds back the growth difficulties of an adult daughter. Teenager Mika Ranin moves and performs naturally on stage, even though he is still in the early stages of his acting skills. It’s gratifying to see that old actors get roles that describe their peers and their own generation, especially when they are played
so aptly.
The old is better
Ernest Thompson: Golden Pond. Helsinki City Theatre, small stage. Translated and directed by Arto af Hällström. Set and costumes Samppa Lahdenperä. Cast: Matti Ranin, Tea Ista, Kristiina Halttu, Jouko Klemettilä, Kari Mattila, Mika Ranin.
Golden Pond is one of those American plays that is better known for its film version. Helsinki City Theatreseems to have liked the texts that have received a film boost, after all, it featured Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny a couple of years ago.
a couple played in the film version (1981) by Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn.
and charm. Both are actors in their habits – albeit completely different – whose stage personality dominates
more of a role than a role of a stage persona.
Humanity is the central tension of the play.
gesticulating a little swaggeringly and speaking in a nasal voice. There is warmth and presence in both roles.
summer villa.
the local postman, who has been the heirloom of my daughter’s youth.
dared to grow up.
there has been no strength and understanding.
about a teenage boy’s joie de vivre.
dramatic collisions.
controlling.
realism. The dialogue is linguistically poor and, at worst, really flat in the way that today’s television succeeds.
It also improves the play’s often lacklustre dramaturgy and reduces the atmosphere that slows down the rhythm. It’s no wonder that the film version
Thompson, among other things, added a boat accident.
expressively holds back the growth difficulties of an adult daughter.
so aptly.