Review: Puputyttö

The bunny girl paves the way to adulthood

Dramaturgy student Saara Turunen’s play offers plenty to think about

A woman and a handsome man go to a restaurant. The woman is left to sit at the table alone, as the man is “busy as a salesman”. The mountain landscape on the opposite wall reminds the woman of a romantic imagery in the shadow – even in the shadow – in the shadow – of which she has spent her entire young life.

Dramaturgy student Saara Turunen’s artistic thesis The Bunny Girl premiered at the Theatre Academy last September, directed by Turunen. The play was also freshly tackled at the Department of Acting at the University of Tampere under the guidance of directing student Sini Pesonen .

The chilling play has power and it will surely find its way outside the art colleges as well. The original working group of the Theatre Academy has brought its performance to the Helsinki City Theatre’s Studio Pasila for the end of the spring.

Saara Turunen’s play has a clear and functional basic structure. The Bunny Girl proceeds like a game. The actors change their roles on the fly. Time and place change with the snap of a finger. A video camera is also a natural part of the game.

Rosanna Kemppi, who plays the woman in the play, flexibly changes her character from a girl with no self-esteem to the charming beauty of her imagination. The world of children is tough and the road to adulthood is even harder.

The development of self-image in the play is a downright brutal process. And Turunen’s direction does not shy away from brutality in any way. In painful situations, the Woman repeatedly grabs a machine gun; The only way to feel clean is to make bloody piles around you.

The wildest thing about Bunny Girl , however, is the absoluteness with which the performance describes the environment in which young people grow up and its distorted imagery. Relationships are a never-ending knockout game, and in order to be loved, a woman must be a TV chef, a flight attendant and at least play tennis.

Turunen has succeeded brilliantly in concentrating the theme of his play and finding functionality in it. There are no unnecessary side paths in the hour-long performance, and the tempo is downright breathtaking. It is easy to empathize with the position of a young woman.

The revealing nature of the performance rises from behind the flowing humour and skilfully portrayed characters, almost suffocating at times. The most peculiar thing about the shock caused by the Bunny Girl is that the shooting scenes that rhythmize the performance become places to breathe that make it easier to breathe in terms of the whole.

Turunen’s thesis has plenty to think about for educators.