Review: Myyrä
Mole
The City Theatre’s novelty is a joyful rendition of Jari Tervo’s novel. Milko Lehto has directed a spectacle in which not even gravestones are left unturned. Antti Litja is in the role of his life as the charismatic, ironic Kekkonen. Rauno Ahonen is doing well as an opponent.
When Kekkonen urinates metaphorically on his own image, I can say that I have now seen almost everything in the theatre. Political satire and obscure logic may still have trump cards in their pockets, so the only limit is imagination and courage. At least there is no lack of courage in the City Theatre’s frenzied tearing. Sami Keski-Vähälä has dramatised Jari Tervo’s ingenious, thriller-like political satire, and it has been directed for the stage by Milko Lehto. It is a sign of boldness and charming arrogance that the work contains certain references to Smeds’ The Unknown, which has become the concept of a modern classic at the National Theatre. The challenge has been answered.
Jari Tervo’s best-selling novel is about power and corruption in post-war Finland. At the heart of the book is our beloved President FAQ. Sami Keski-Vähälä has successfully dramatised the ironic core of the novel for the stage. Looking for a mole that leaks information to the opponent’s side. The performance has a sharp blow: the mole is found in a completely unexpected place. Even today, jokes are made in the tabloids and on TV at the expense of politicians, but in the 1970s, the atmosphere was wilder: booze flowed, everyone suspected each other, and everyone had a “folder”, even their lives could be lost.
Markus Tsokkinen has built a very functional and ingenious, multi-minded set design for the performance. Tamminiemi is not on a hill, but halfway under the stage, right in front of the audience. Kekkonen swings in his own bunker, as if handing out orders from the grave. The narrow rails that cut through the stage are reminiscent of the centre of Helsinki, but the rails also lead to the Kremlin and the crematorium.
The ascending ramp in the background is loaded with firewood, the symbols of Finnish sisu, yet a closer look also begins to see toilers among the logs: the soles of boots can be seen between the trees. Even in politics, some people always end up being chopped.
Petteri Pietiäinen’s lighting and video design enhances the atmosphere with heavy background images and live videos. The genre of Milko Lehto’s direction is very modern and deliberately annoying.
The performance relies on a strong duo. On the one hand, there is UKK, handsomely interpreted by Antti Litja , and on the other hand, Rauno Ahonen, who plays the detective of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, Jura Karhu. The performance is full of excellent double roles to the point of breathlessness, but Litja and Ahonen are the show’s counter-attraction magnet.
Litja is very credible and impressive as a fit, impatient president. He gets an incredible charisma in the role, where the thirst for power and doubt intersect. A certain combination of rancidity and sensitivity makes Litjan Kekkonen a captivating authority. When Litja as Kekkonen ponders the legality of the decisions she makes alone on stage and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s touching music plays in the background, we are truly at the heart of Finnishness. The soundscape designed by Antero Mansika is functional and interesting in other ways as well.
Rauno Ahonen is the point of view of the story. He gives Litja a good counterforce as a back-haired, slightly sleazy investigator who cheats on his wife, whose naivety is only revealed at the end. Of course, there are many other good characters in the performance.
Matti Olavi Ranin is quite credible as a young Kekkonen in the clutches of Stalin himself. Pertti Koivula , who is under-disguised as a real look, is an impressive Stalin, just as psychopathic as a father can expect from a sunny one. Seppo Maijala plays a great role as the devilish ambassador Stepa and Brezhnev, who has become legendary for his eyebrows. Even the old president’s dementia gets its share of twisted humour.
Pihla Penttinen represents the more radical wing of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, and her disguise is a funnily clichéd punk uniform in the style of the 1970s. Penttinen carries the story forward by telling the locations and years. This keeps the audience on track. This is needed, as the cast of characters is extensive and there are many duplications of roles. Of these, it is worth mentioning the Brotherhood of the Bear, played firmly by Seppo Halttunen and Matti Rasila .
Aino Seppo plays both Jura’s wife and mother. In the commendably clear script, the confusion has been prevented by adding a portrait of each character to the cast of characters.
The performance is full of hilarious, even tough scenes, in which the art is done wonderfully on the borders of annoyance and burlesque theatre. Even the pool on the stage sometimes comes into its own so that the water splashes all the way to the stands. Kekkonen skies and Kekkonen fishes, but who threads the fish into Kekkonen’s fishing rod?
In the German negotiations, Kekkonen brags about how Helsinki was one of the European capitals that was not occupied during the Second World War. On the other hand, the sign language interpretation of Kekkonen’s speech by a woman dressed in Tyrolean is quite original. The performance also pokes fun at the alcohol consumption of political circles at the time, which bordered on unrestraint and dangerous. It is unbelievable how important things have been negotiated and decided in a dead end. So the Kremlin crew is also filmed tied to drip bottles, and of course there is vodka in the bottles. Elina Kolehmainen’s costumes measure the height of the most handsome furry menace.
Mole is Finnish, touching and ingeniously energetic theatre. Chilling is nicely combined with anarchy and humour. The entire imagery and gags don’t even open in one viewing. In the grove run, Mole almost gets tangled in his own feet, but he still gets dry.
The final solution and the final image are filled with ambiguous insight; The era ends with a coffin upholstered with the Finnish flag, but Kekkonen still grins and the mole wheel travels.
Jari Tervo’s sense of humour, on the other hand, is indicated by the fact that in the premiere thanks, he did not greet Kekkonen with kisses on the cheek, but Stalin.