Review: Aina
There is always light after grief
At the Helsinki City Theatre, you have the opportunity to see unusually touching, fun and engaging children’s and youth theatre. Always tells the story of a family that faces a great loss, a mother who can’t cope and children who have to cope with their grief alone.
Adults must take responsibility for children, even in the midst of all the anxiety and rush, even if they are not always able to. That is the clear message of the play, written by Kati Kaartinen and directed by Olka Horila . The performance does not explain or accuse, but shows. Rather, a message is a feeling that gets through without preaching or abhorrence.
Father Risto goes to heaven at Christmas time and mother ( Aino Seppo ) curls up on the couch in grief. 11-year-old Aina has to take responsibility for her own and her 4-year-old brother Aarre’s everyday life. The little brother has to be taken to the kindergarten Mittastick in the mornings, the spinach pancakes have to be warmed up and bedtime has to be taken care of.
Comfort comes from the father, with whom you can talk from a certain point in your own room and who can be seen from a certain point in the schoolyard. The mysterious new neighbor ( Rauno Ahonen ) also brings light.
She is always (too) brisk and brave, but during the spring, the mother’s tiredness also transfers to the girl. The teacher is also tired and there will be another substitute. The original substitute, dressed in a wet shirt and curls of curls, is a bit out of sorts, but helps Aina and Aarre in a way.
Between childhood and adulthood
Always is aimed at children over 9 years of age. The performance manages to turn its difficult target group between childhood and adolescence into a victory. Always with her classmates makes fun and moving art in the space between childhood and adulthood.
Pissis princess Jenni ( Vappu Nalbantoglu ) and Kalle ( Jouko Klemettilä ), who is choking on his own coolness , fight in the pitfalls of crushes, likes and coping. They also need love and boundaries.
The performance is also perfect for a first visit to the theatre. In the beginning, the actors make the world of theatre visible.
Always performed by Vuokko Hovatta with captivating sincerity, is the mainstay of the story and a narrator who sometimes speaks directly to the audience. Hannes Suominen’s charming little brother is the mouthpiece of truth in the play. Suominen doesn’t just play a four-year-old, but makes Aarre a whole person.
The other characters are more intensely caricatured characters, but at the same time touching and true. The whole cast does a great, wild and sincere job.
Annukka Pykäläinen’s set design and costumes, together with the multifaceted sound and light worlds, create a living and rich world in Studio Elsa’s black box. The starry sky spreads widely, all the way to the audience.
The sad story is full of joy and insights. At least at the premiere, Kaartinen’s insightful and cheerful language seems to bite into the laughing nerves of both children and adults. The play is written and directed with a good and sincere tone and touch. You always look at your audience from the same level and straight in the eyes.
The inability of adults to face their own and children’s problems and grief is described from many angles. At the end, children are encouraged to ask adults anything. They don’t always know how to answer, but it’s still worth asking, both for the sake of adults and children.