Review: Iloisiin kuulemiin ja näkemiin

Factual entertainment “from the news of the Finnish Broadcasting Company”

The Finnish Broadcasting Company’s Päiväpeili (Mirror of the Day) is certainly our most listened to radio programme nationwide. It has made such significant communication history that the song play on the subject, written by historian Jukka Relander and journalist Outi Poppi , is justified. To top it all off, the play Happy Hears and Goodbyes , which was part of the Helsinki City Theatre’s diverse offerings, is a well-made, funny and at the same time factual overview of radio and music history.

Director Mikko Kivinen was surrounded by many current and former radio voices or television faces at the premiere. Familiar names flash on stage, but as such, the staff of the editorial staff of Päiväpeili have been given completely new and imaginary names; There is familiarity in the characters, but not exactly one copied together. Maija Pekkanen’s costumes take fashion through the decades in style as a side story. The exemplary orchestra is conducted by Lasse Hirvi.

As the main announcer, Tyyne Kälpäkkä (Riitta Havukainen) represents tradition in good taste as well as in her resistance to change. Nico (Antti Timonen) of the new era throws out his visions of the future from the reform manager’s bunny word generator with such power that even “the weaker ones are terrified”
– and for good reason. Between the extremes, there is both a more radical and a more conservative editorial view.

But the 50-year review, which begins with the Helsinki Olympics, provides a dizzying overview of the changes in radio communications and at the same time provides a nostalgic recap of familiar radio voices that are also related to the crises of our country or the world: “Here is Zahovalova, Prague” cannot help but be indelibly caught in the ears of every child who was already somehow conscious in 1968. Kekkonen is on board in the 1956 presidential election, the night frosts, the note crisis and even the CSCE.

In the background, photographs of the hot names in politics alternate, both as horror brats of their time and as long-time favourites of novice politics.
The play Joyful Heard and Goodbye gives a whole new part to the music of the time. Of course, there are numerous songs to be missed, but the extremely carefully and skillfully executed vocal parts make you sink into the theater bench as comfortably as possible. There are Toivo Kärki’s evergreens, there is the guttural cry of the years of the social shutdown of the 60s, the punk era with Eppu all the way to Ultra Bra.

One of the most astonishing musical parts is the song Hetki lyö (Moment Hits), Kirka-inkarnaatio, interpreted by Sami Hokkanen . These singing actors are wonderful – thank you to the whole cast. Thank you, Mirror of the Day editors. Thank you, City Theatre, for making this factual entertainment available to us viewers now!