Review: Elokuu
Dead Earth, Land of Cacti
On the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, we will see a fresh American family drama directed by Kari Heiskanen . Tracy Letts’ August unravels the knots and wounds of the Weston family, revealing the meanness and cruelty that resides in humans.
The play, which premiered in 2007, has won numerous awards and has been elevated to the ranks of great American dramas. And August is closely related to Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill’s and Arthur Miller’s depictions of repressed passion and family hells.
Letts moves from the transformation of the post-war family and morale to the present day. The reality is strongly American, which manifests itself in content, form and small details.
Myths about family connection and sibling are strong.
August has the heaviness of accumulating problems typical of American dramas, but there is more crude and black humour and a sense of the unbearable absurdity of life than its predecessors. The play deals with everything from various addictions to sexual abuse. However, Letts’s play and Heiskanen’s direction manage to avoid the heaviest psychologization.
A well-written play has elements of a classic. It is skilfully constructed and the multi-faceted characters offer a lot to play and especially the colourful female roles. At its most delicious, the text is funny, direct and sharp.
Mothers and daughters
The Weston family is an academic and educated family that has risen to the middle class through hard work. The disappearance of their father causes the clan to gather in the middle of hot and dry Oklahoma for the first time in a long time.
The play takes place within a few days, the past is slowly unraveled, secrets are revealed and the lives of the characters are shaken for good.
The family is ruled by the pill’s steamy and foul-mouthed mother, Violet, played by Ritva Valkama with an iron grip and a sense of rhythm. The family’s three sisters, who are in their forties, meet after years. Heidi Herala, Riitta Havukainen and Aino Seppo get to show their skills and build tragic, sympathetic and encouraging characters out of the women on a wide scale.
The daughters’ husband, groom and lover, as well as the mother’s sister, who is played by Leena Uotila in her exhilarating style, will also be present.
Women are the driving force
The performance is interesting and strong throughout, but the powerful women are the driving force behind the performance. The aging of women and the loss of sexual attraction are the central themes of the play. A younger woman’s nation can’t compete is Violet’s harsh message.
An outsider’s perspective on the family hell is offered by a domestic servant ( Kreeta Salminen ) hired by the father just before he disappeared, who is a descendant of the Indians.
The middle class is crumbled by a smudged stage image that takes your thoughts to a white garbage bag.
The performance makes use of the aesthetics of empty space familiar from Heiskanen’s recent city theatre productions. The space is not staged, but there are authentic objects on the stage, pancakes fry and smell on the stove and coffee drips in the machine.
The rotating stage is used as a simple solution that rhythmizes the performance. Heiskanen groups people in an interesting way and rhythms the performance in a distinctive way. The quintessentially American drama creates a unique imprint.