Review: Vaavin salattu elämä

VAAVI’S SECRET LIFE AT THE CITY THEATRE

When I sneaked into the morning children’s play in the foyer of the City Theatre, I had no idea that one man would get me in such a good mood, so cheerful and so suddenly.

But PERTTI KOIVULA was able to do it all.
I don’t know what kind of trainer he has had in the preparation process for this role as VAAVI, but at least it is certain that the training has been successful. The role is probably the “smallest” of the ones Koivula has ever encountered, as he plays only one and a half year old VAVI, but despite the “smallness” of the role, the performance is “big” and successfully joyful. Actually, it’s completely stupid to say that KOIVULA “plays” VAVI, because KOIVULA “is” VAAVI.

A grandstand full of kindergarten-aged children blissfully follow what this baby is doing. And only one, a little girl who will probably grow into a very rational woman as an adult, says in a whisper at the beginning of the show, “That can’t be Vaavi, it’s Vaavi’s daddy!” But as the following of VAAVI’s hidden life progresses, this refrain also falls silent and the girl, like the others, keeps a close eye on what VAAVI comes up with. The story is based on the idea that the inventive but still somewhat linguistically deficient VAAVI wakes up in his crib at 4 a.m. as usual.

At first, she is going to wake up mom and dad in agony, but then she realizes that the morning is much more exciting when she first goes on a little adventure by herself.
Listening to music, climbing and avoiding the vacuum cleaner, the morning becomes full of content and sometimes you can taste a snack from a cat bowl and a meeting with a newspaper deliverer and even the police. The interpreter between VAAVI and the audience is SARI HAAPAMÄKI, who also adventures in VAAVI’s morning, while performing the other small roles in the play. (policeman, newspaper deliverer, mother)

As a whole, the performance is far too short from an adult’s point of view, as one could watch Koivula’s physical, empathetic and heartfelt performance for much longer.

A child under school age probably thinks that a 40-minute performance is just right. There are no bored expressions and the empathy is almost as physical as KOIVULA’s.VAAVI’S SECRET LIFE is inventive, small-scale and easy to move around. In the auditorium, the implementation of three seating options is also functional.

In principle, at least. Before the performance, the janitor comes to tell in clear Finnish that the wish is that the adults would sit on armchairs at the back of the built auditorium, the children in front of it on low benches, or as a third option, the children are also offered to sit on mattresses placed in front of the stage. Most of the viewers did what they wanted, but there is always someone whose world is filled only by their own navel.

Two happy ladies with children in their arms pushed themselves to sit on the children’s seats, completely blocking the visibility of half a dozen little spectators. The only sight for these unlucky ones left behind was staring at the waistband of the ladies’ panties.

A couple of adults went to point out to the navel ladies that the children behind them could no longer see anything happening on stage. As a passive response to a friendly remark, there was a classic EVVK look.But even though the occasional immense self-centeredness of fellow human beings is annoying, the most important thing, i.e. the performance, is cheerful, positive, funny and joyful. The performances seem to be sold out in some places, but the affordable 7€ party is worth aiming for, because this good mood show makes a nice day even better. Not to mention what it can do to a boring or boring day: it can turn it into sunny COMPLETELY! In my opinion, the performance “works” best for the target group of 4-6 year olds and quite large adults! PERTTI KOIVULA can only be said in VAAV’s own words:
“Toi toi! Kiss kiss! Tos tos!”