Review: Kirje Siperiasta

WITNESS TO THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE
How fragile and vulnerable is not
a single person in the world,
especially in times of upheaval
Historical Stages – During
Dictatorships, wars and famine?
This and much more
gets the warm, melancholy
the monologue The Letter from Siberia
the spectator to ponder
over.

The play is based on Elna
Sundgren Schdanoff’s own
depiction. Her nephew
Christian Sundgren published
Her life stories in book form
ten years ago. Now Milja has
Sarkola has created a responsive
monologue for the scene that bases
on the stories.
In the ascetic space
with bare brick walls meet
we by an elderly woman, Elna,
as low-key but brave
shares with us everyday
observations from the horrific
spoon. An evening
In 1937, they suddenly pick up
her husband and imprisons
even her without stating
any real reason. For Elna’s
Part follows five years of penal servitude
in Siberia and further
Five years of banishment only
because she was married to the engineer
Votya Zhdanov.


Unique story that
is not unique

The incredible journey through
Siberia in the middle of winter, the
nature (or lack thereof)
on food), mice, lice,
the rats and the inhumane
conditions says Elna
(Lilga Kovanko) for us about
as if it were any ordinary
story at any time. Gently,
delicate and sometimes cheeky
she says – with her feet
on earth. Lilga Kovanko takes
be in his Russian and give Elna
A Russian accent that sits
well in the context and liberates
the acting expression.
Milja Sarkola’s direction is extremely
chose-free.
The horrible sad thing is
that this unique story does not
is unique at all. It’s endless
the sufferings of many people
who have their voice heard through
story. During the Stalin era
Millions were forcibly displaced
people to the Gulag
in Siberia. During other
World War II, millions were killed
people in the concentration camps
and what is happening
Not today?


Being able to see a sentence

How can you even
survive such fates,
is the big question. And
Why do some people survive
and others not? This
Among other things, psychiatrist Viktor
Frankl has written about and one of the
His central ideas are that
You have to be able to see a sentence
with the whole thing, if not
other than that, the meaning of
to survive, to be able to testify. And
that even the meager everyday life
gives comfort. Elna’s personal
support becomes the hope of getting
reunite with her husband and love
to the sons. Through his story
she becomes a witness.
A funny detail among all
that was so different in life
At that time, the connections
and the perception of time.
Everything was slower
and absurdly slow
That’s when you had something
to hide.
Elna had to wait for more
months on telegram reply
– not to mention that she
had to wait tens of
years on a death notice and that she
not even in their entire lifetime
Got to know the whole truth
about her husband’s fate. This
feels incomprehensible during our
e-mail and mobile times.
The small space up there
at the Amos Anderson Museum
Really suitable for
This kind of stripped-down theatre.
The letter from Siberia invites
in a thought-provoking hour
full of melancholy, sadness and courage
“A whole life.