Review: Rimakauhua rakkaudessa

CAPTIVATING MUSICAL THEATRE ABOUT THE INTOXICATION AND PAIN OF LOVE

Without any major expectations, it is sometimes easy for a theatre-goer who does not load into their mind, but who often has reservations about musicals, to smile. There is a big positive surprise to be seen, a gem hidden in a local coffin.

This is what happened to me with Studio Pasila’s performance Horror in Love. The bright side of the profession.
Still, it should be noted at the outset that the potpourri of twenty thematically intertwined songs, written by Richard Maltby Jr . and composed by David Shire , has been splashed with an absurd name, apparently built on the basis of “TV familiar”. That is also misleading, because this story has nothing to do with the popular relationship series Love and Horror. The original title is the ambiguous Closer Than Ever and its direct translation Closer Than Ever would have fit the content well. I guess it just wasn’t selling enough. That’s it, the name doesn’t make the theatre experience worse when there is an intact performance made with skill, heart and sincere enthusiasm behind it.

Recognisability as an asset

Horror in Love is not a musical theatre performance with a plot, but its songs have a big main plot. In one way or another, they are all about love, its loss and longing, passion and its fading. They grow into small stories from both the sunny and shadowy sides of the relationship path, and what is most gratifying is that they do not succumb to either syrupiness or naturalistic mental discipline. Humour is strongly present, but not glued on, but eutrophication of the texts. In some places, it’s nicely rough, but still not obscene or cheaply stuttering below the Arctic Circle.

The narratives of the song numbers, which are attractive with their versatility, have a strong aroma of recognizability hovering over them. Thus, Rimakauhua kärlekssa also captivates with its credibility. When this significant element meets functionally executed and smoothly progressing stage entertainment, we are on the verge of an entity that has the prerequisites for a theatrical hit. With this kind of stuff, you would think it would be easy to lure the part of the population marked with a “young adults” tag into the theater doors, for example.

Very close teamwork


Milko Lehto’s direction relies heavily on the performers. That is, the actors, because that’s what they are when they sing. Functionality grows from their direct contact not only with each other, but especially with the audience, which in this genre is more significant than spoken theatre. You don’t have to throw applause from the stands just because it was a well-performed song. The danger of only seeing a cavalcade of song numbers is avoided. As a director, Lehto has managed to conjure up a constantly moving whole.

There is no unnecessary stuff on the stage, a few pieces of furniture and box elements that can be used to get along well. And since we are often dealing with quite mundane interpersonal matters, there is no need for costumes to decorate as is usually the case in larger-scale musicals – to the point of exhaustion.

The four performers Sami Hokkanen, Hanna Kaila, Pauliina Kiuru and Antti Timonen are an iron package. Even though they have all been involved in the City Theatre’s musical Miss Saigon, for example, they have the freshness and courage to throw themselves into the demands of a somewhat exceptional musical theatre. One of the quartets may be slightly better than the other in their use of voice or in the purity and power of the vocals, while one may be more expressive as an actor than another, but in this case it is pointless to make such nitty-gritty analyses. Now we are talking about a team that works strongly in the spirit of the Musketeer: one for all and all for one, we fight against ossified entertainment. Victoriously.

A small nudge to the otherwise lively continuum is caused by the fact that pianist Jukka Nykänen is elevated to a role in a couple of songs, as it were. He is by no means a bad interpreter, but he is still a musician among the actors and you can feel it. But this fact doesn’t ruin the big picture, it just scratches the frame a little.

There would be a clear demand for a theatrical soundtrack in the production of Horror in Love if such rights to the songs existed. Record company members, listen up.