Review: Rimakauhua rakkaudessa

LOVE IS A GOOD SUBJECT

You don’t have to be much of a fortune teller to predict a good future for the performance Horror in Love that premiered at Studio Pasila in Helsinki on Thursday – perhaps not quite the same as for the play Stones in Your Pocket , which has been running in the same place for three years to sold-out audiences.

The theme of the performance is brilliant: there is probably never a single person among the audience whose life has not been touched by love – or lack of it – in some way. That, and the good performers, is the charm of a rather docile singing evening.

The performance consists of 21 song performances that bring out almost the entire spectrum of love. Not all manifestations of love have been touched by American authors, composer David Shire and lyricist Richard Malby Junior, even in these times of liberalism, but the field of love is mapped out quite well. In addition to heterosexual love, the songs also talk about the bond and friendships between father and son, among other things. The atmosphere is warmly humorous, but on the other hand, the painful feelings of love are not ignored either.

Good performers
The performance, which passes from one song number to another, does not have a plot, but the songs function as their own performances. Director Milko Lehto has managed to get his act together in the successive episodes, even though sometimes the loose boxes that are part of the set are rotated too cleverly.

The success of vocal performances rests largely on good performers and catchy music. There is no need to worry about the skills of the actors Pauliina Kiuru, Sami Hokkanen, Hanna Kaila and Antti Timonen, who have previously appeared together in the musical Miss Saigon. Especially Hanna Kaila’s single woman looking for a husband, not a friend, has that something.

There are no evergreen compositions among the compositions, but luckily even the most typical musical arrangements are not performed accompanied by a pianist and a bassist.

The translator Hannu Leivo has succeeded in adapting the American phrases to Finnish conditions in places, but in some places the direct translations of the text are naïve. On the other hand, the filmmakers also seem to have seen the amusing side of the subject: even at the end, they manage to remind us of Cupid’s unpredictability by recycling the couples who are assuring their love once more.