Review: Arsenikkia ja vanhoja pitsejä

Arsenic and old lace

The title of the play often says almost nothing about the play itself, e.g. Teatteri Provinssi’s summer play Lukkosulaa ja Lumpeenkukkia will not open to the audience, except perhaps in the sense that it is a comedy-oriented play, and exactly the same can be said of the Helsinki City Theatre’s latest play Arsenic and Old Lace.

Basically, it is a comedy-oriented performance, which then eventually unfolds into a farce spiced with black humour. This is how I would create the proposal.

The story takes place in Brooklyn, New York, in the fall of 1940 and the central characters of the story are Abby and Martha, whose casting has been decided to be occupied by Asko Sarkola and Esko Roine, i.e. the women’s roles have been given to men. I don’t know if this was originally the intention, but at least that’s what has been done in this case. The side of the world has been much more fun when men have played women’s roles, and not the other way around, and admittedly, a large dose of humor has been added to this performance as well.

Abby and Martha live together with Abby’s husband Teddy (Jari Pehkonen), who plays or thinks he is sometimes the president of the United States or some other notable person. Women have the strange work of mercy, as they call it, to murder lonely men and bury them solemnly in their cellar.

All members of the family are one after the other more or less without a “sanatorium”. From the very beginning, the play begins a flood of misunderstandings, in which the audience is pampered with surprise twists and new characters that are so typical of farces and new characters that connect to the core group. The script of the story is insightfully funny, but what makes it really fun is the directing and acting work, which is a pleasure to watch.

When two big names in the theatre industry, Asko Sarkola and Esko Roine, whose mannerisms I have always admired and enjoyed immensely, meet on stage as a pair, it is sold in one fell swoop. Jouko Klemettilä does a great job in the role of Dr. Einstein and a whole that is worth mentioning.

Once again, a successful choice from the Helsinki City Theatre when looking for entertaining theatre, and that is certainly what the play is.