Review: Vaimoni on toista maata

My wife is from another country

My Wife Is Another Land, written by French director Gilles Dyrek, is a witty and modern comedy in which a house party turns into chaos as a small misunderstanding grows to enormous proportions.

My Wife is from another country, is a comedy of the young generation. So where can it be seen that this is the work of a playwright born in 1966?

This can be seen above all in the text, which deals with today’s phenomena and the language of communication, which differs from the so-called Muslim language. the colloquial language of the classics.

The play was performed a record 500 times in France between 2003 and 2007, under the name Venise sous la neige in Paris’ most famous theatres such as the Palais des Glaces, the Café de la Gare and the Pépiniére Opéra. In addition, the play toured France for four years, so it is a successful play by French standards.

The Nordic premiere was at Lilla Teatern in the autumn, a play in Finnish
premiered in the same place.

It all starts when Elina (Vierikko) and Janne (Sarkola) are waiting for their evening gatherings
Janne’s schoolmate Risto (Toivonen) and his newest girlfriend Veera
(Järnefelt), who is a new acquaintance for the host couple.

The visit starts badly for Risto and Veera, as they have a “family negotiation” going on and Veera sulks when Risto tries to keep the façade up. Elina and Janne are happy and excited about the visit.

Since Veera doesn’t say anything, it doesn’t take long for the hosts to figure out that Veera is
foreigner and not proficient in Finnish. Veera jumps into this belief and begins to
to play a foreigner whom Risto cannot reveal to the host couple.

These initial elements are the beginning of an exhilarating spectacle, which is carried forward in a fine and enjoyable way by the magnificent actors.

As befits a good work, the play has the right amount of speed and more serene parts, and surprise twists and turns are constantly raining down on the audience.

In Lillan, Vivica Bandler ushered in the era of comedies, farces and cabares,
which was continued by Lasse Pöysti and Birgitta Ulfsson as directors of Lilla Teatern (1967-1974),
however, keeping its own Swedish-language theatre line.

For decades, the building has also been used to seeing comedy, which is successfully continued by the “new Lillani” currently hosted by the Helsinki City Theatre, and of which My Wife Is from Another Country is a stylistic example.

However, there has been a change in recent years in the sense that the theatre is now also performed in Finnish.