Review: Kolme iloista rosvoa
Helsinki City Theatre brings to the stage the beloved story of the Three Merry Robbers, with whom several generations enjoy their company. The musical play continues the Helsinki City Theatre’s series of top-quality musicals and musical plays. Three Merry Robbers is a fast-paced and colourful feel-good boost.
The City of Cardamom is a fairytale world, and it would be good to learn from its life in everyday life. People and animals get along and everyone feels good. Finally, robbers who have lived on the margins of society also become part of the urban community of Cardamomom, loved ones find and get each other, and people’s dreams come true.
Sitting at the premiere screening on 2 February, I couldn’t help but draw parallels from the city of Cardamom to my other hometown, Cairo. “There are camels and donkeys on the streets, people are happy and care about each other, and they know how to enjoy the small joys of everyday life. People are woken up to a sunny morning by the crow of a rooster.” My first home in Cairo was in an area where I literally woke up to the crowing of a rooster that lived on the balcony of the neighboring house, which is quite a rarity in Cairo with a population of 20 million.
The animals of Cardamom are sympathetic and skilfully costumed and make-up, and the actors who play them are brilliant. The lion living in the home of the three robbers is so real that the little child viewer behind me wondered for half of the play whether the lion is just a human after all.
The orchestra, led by conductor Eeva Konnu, also does a skilful job and lives with the story on the edge of the stage with full intensity.
Robbers and cops
Rauno Ahonen’s Kasper, Paavo Kerosuo’s Jesper, Eppu Salminen’s Joonatan and Sami Uotila’s Leijona are brilliant performances. The rest of the City Theatre’s cast also performs excellently in their caricatured roles. The two-and-a-half-hour film is full of movement and top characters.
Especially Ursula Salo’s strict Sohvi miss is stunning. Risto Kaskilahti’s Sausage Master and Tiina Peltonen’s Parrot will also remain in the minds and hearts of viewers.
Pertti Koivula’s police chief is sympathetic and friendly and offers robbers a chance for a better life.
At the time of the premiere of the play, the robbers and policemen of my other hometown were unfortunately in very different roles. During the Cairo uprising, the worst looting and violence against the people was organized by the government, and the police were the leaders of the paid bandits and troublemakers.
The situation in Egypt was resolved unexpectedly and everyday life became almost as blissful as the fairytale city of Cardamom; The spirit of the Egyptian uprising, at least on the central stage of the protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, rose to almost the same level as the atmosphere in the city of Cardamom.
A beloved children’s fairy tale
Three Merry Robbers and the City of Cardamom is the creation of Norwegian Thorbjørn Egner. The children’s book Kasper, Jesper and Joonatan: Three Merry Robbers was published in Norwegian in 1955 and as a play in 1956. The book, translated into Finnish by Aila Meriluoto, was published in 1957 and the play premiered the following year in 1958 at the Finnish National Theatre.
Egner was versatile and productive. He produced children’s programmes for the radio, and while writing a children’s book, he invented a story, composed the songs and illustrated the book with his own drawings.
The play Three Merry Robbers is recommended for children over 5 years of age.