Review: Risto Räppääjä ja villi kone

A RAPPER SMASHES THE JOY

YOU KNOW THIS in advance: when the dramaturgy is backed by the jubilee master siblings of comedy, there is no ceiling or measure of merriment. The Nopolas do it again: Ricky the Rapper and the Wild Machine is such good children’s theatre that you almost can’t say it.
But the credit goes not only to these literary gems donated by Manse to the cultural history of our country, but to the entire ensemble of the city theatre.

Katja Krohn’s direction is funny, insightful and ingenious. When poor Risto becomes addicted to the computer world’s shooters, the most astonishing but quite familiar-looking muscle men and orcs appear on the scene, moving like technocrats fried in hot fat: stiff and jerky.
Choreographer Sari Haapamäki has also done a great job. Now it’s not just rapping, but there’s also stuffed gum, and Risto gets to give way to Nelli for a moment when the cute nice singer Ville Pyry takes his place.

THE HAPPIEST THING is to watch the sunny, energetic actors. Physically, there is probably no question of completely light roles. On stage, there is plenty of running, dancing, swimming and fighting until you are out of breath. And yet the wonderful Nopolan peace remains, where poor knights, pancakes and Jane Austen’s books bring happiness.

Paavo Kerosuo is the amazing Risto the Rapper, whose essence changes from a poet to a pizza-devouring nerd through trivia games, and back to his own comfortable self through a nice popper.
Annu Valonen Aunt Rauha couldn’t be more charming – and it’s no wonder that Santeri Kinnunen’s extremely lively and supple Lennart Lindberg can’t resist the timeless charm of this charming woman. Sanna-June Hyden Nelli is sweet and fatal at the same time.

WHEN THE STAGE IMAGE works as a whole and Rantala’s music moves the story forward in a relaxed manner, the colour palette of the stage is complete and both children and adult viewers are satisfied. This is an educational theatre that is not addressed to all of us, which does not wave a moral finger, but whose message becomes clear to everyone.
The world offered by the Nopolas is not satisfied with compromises: the cords must simply be taken away from such brats and adults who do not see that reality is better entertainment than a machine.
And the gender division is also clear. Women are sensible, men are stupid. That is why the salvation of the world is not in the hands of the strongmen of the computer screen, but in the hands of the feminine.