Review: Viiru ja Pesonen – Viiru kateissa

VIIRU AND PESONEN CHARM BOTH YOUNG AND OLD

It is not without problems to make a play based on any well-known children’s book, and especially not a picture book. On the other hand, it’s easy, as the framework for the visuals, characters and plot is there. On the other hand, it requires the ability to find something unique and new within these frameworks, so that the performance does not become a mere repetition of the book.

Peter Engkvist is one of Sweden’s most famous theatre personalities, specialising in physical and mime theatre. His directing for both adults and children has received numerous awards around the world, and Teater Pero, which he conducts, has visited the Tampere Theatre Festival four times.
Engkvist has previously visited the Helsinki City Theatre to direct the fairy tales The Boy and the Star and The Lost Pihlaja. This time, he has tackled Sven Nordqvist’s beloved characters Viiru the Cat and Ukko Pesonen, as well as the book Viiru katoissa.
Nordqvist’s Viiru ja Pesonen books have a warm-hearted, old-fashioned rural atmosphere and small everyday incidents that seem to stealthily tell about very big things, above all about friendship and caring. The story of Viiru Missing tells how Viiru arrived at Pesonen’s house and what happened when the little kitten went to explore the world outside the cottage door for the first time.


Avoiding copying the bookBR>

Elina Kolehmainen has created a recognizable Peso milieu in the foyer of the theatre’s small stage, but it is not a one-to-one copy of a picture book. The brown and green-toned set design and costumes are just far enough from realism to create a fairytale-like atmosphere.
Engkvist does not directly copy the picture book in his direction either, but the story of the performance has been shaped based on it and the rehearsals done together with the actors.
The most challenging and rewarding thing for the viewer is how two actors, with their mimicry and physical expression, create a whole spectrum of different characters on stage, from mysterious mugs to Mrs. Anttonen. As Pesonen and Viiru himself, Pekka Huotari and Sami Hokkanen are sympathetic and warm-hearted. The contact between them works brilliantly both as actors and characters. And in this same context, they naturally involve the audience as well.

Viiru kaissa is a skilful theatre session with a touch of humour, where the small is big and the tempo of the events is just right, so that even the smallest children can join in, but even the older ones do not get bored.