Review: Mamma betalar

A PERFORMANCE YOU CAN’T MISS

Happily, Lilla Teatern, under the protection of the City Theatre, has
managed to get their finances back on their feet – and “Mamma Pays” (The
Blind Fiddler, 2004) paves the way for a well-stocked auditorium
season. It is a rich and music-filled Irish history
with partly the same authors as the previous success “Stones in
pocket“. The playwright and actor Marie Jones, who has written
play, was present at the premiere.

Once again , Arn-Henrik Blomqvist is responsible for directing and even now we see
Sampo Sarkola on stage, while Pekka Strang settles for
the role of the theatre’s artistic director. Instead, the
the cast by Birgitta Ulfsson, Iwar Wiklander, Pia
Runnakko and Joachim Wigelius. Matti Kallio accompanies
accordion and guarantees the authentic Irish atmosphere.

The play takes place mostly in a typical Irish pub, which in
Mimmi Resman’s set design with the help of a cross is easily transformed
to a Catholic monastery. The aspiring working-class mother Mary
has persuaded her husband Pat to open a pub in order to be able to afford to move to a
nicer neighborhood and live among better people. But in practice, this means
that Pat rarely or never sees his children who are sent away to
boarding school. 11-year-old Kathleen is uncomfortable with ballet and would rather
dancing riverdance in the pub, while Joe evolves into a famous
concert pianist. Three days every year, the disappointed Pat retires
to a monastery for fasting and prayer.


“Mom Pays“ is a wonderful story with all the spices: humor,
seriousness, love, death, strong emotions, big life questions and a
reality anchoring that appeals to me. The play takes up very nicely
identity problems that arose when one’s own culture was squeezed.
Especially in the 1960s, Catholics were forced to practice their culture and
Play their music in secret in the pubs after closing time. A
the text is particularly profound by the fact that Marie Jones, born in Belfast,
1950, he himself has a Protestant background but early on became aware of
the oppression of Catholics.

Arn-Henrik Blomqvist succeeds perfectly in realising the author’s
intentions. The cast is literally reveling in lush Irish
characters. We see Birgitta Ulfsson both as Mary and hers
drunken sister Bridie, but especially the interaction with her own
partner Iwar Wiklander in the role of Pat radiates a tenderness that
is clearly not played. Pia Runnakko is brilliant as the daughter
Kathleen and can skillfully switch between children and adults.
We see Sampo Sarkola in many different roles, including as the right
so unsympathetic brother Joe, who can’t hide the fact that he’s ashamed of
his family.

“Mamma Pays” will only be played this autumn, so it is important to hurry
on. This is a story you can’t afford to miss!