Review: Ihmisen osa
Kari Hotakainen’s The Human Part set Ritva Valkama on fire
The play Quartet, which has been performed at the Helsinki City Theatre for several years, inevitably came to mind when the play, based on Kari Hotakainen’s bestselling novel The Human Part, premiered on 24 February on the small stage of the City Theatre. You don’t have to be a great fortune teller to predict the same success as The Quartet for the play The Human Part.
Ritva Valkama has implemented the Finnish government’s appeal for an extended working career. In his own opinion, he retired sixteen years ago from Lilla Teatern. Fortunately for theatre lovers, however, he has continued his glorious career with new projects, each of which, in his own words, has been “the last one”.
Kari Hotakainen was originally supposed to write a monologue for Ritva Valkama, but it turned into a novel with about a dozen people along the way. Director Raila Leppäkoski dramatised this into a play that combines sincere wisdom and deep humour.
– The Human Part is written as a polyphonic novel, a kind of collection of stories. In addition to the protagonist Salme Malmikunnas (Ritva Valkama), her husband Paavo, their three children Helena, Maija and Pekka, a bus driver, a policeman, a consultant and everyone else who contributes to the course of events are voiced. I tried to write the stories overlapping so that a full-bodied and rich overall picture of today’s working life and the timelessness of basic shock would be created,” Kari Hotakainen analyses his play.
The human part values small business, work and fairness. Greed and easy weakness, on the other hand, get a cold ride. The Human Part is a story of this time, a sharp analysis of the human part in the world.
Ritva is a phenomenon
Although the play The Human Part did not become a monologue, the text brilliantly gives Ritva Valkama space, which she also uses to the last detail. The text flows smoothly, it takes on many shades and interprets extreme emotions aptly. This was also noticed by the audience at the premiere, who gave a standing ovation with resounding applause.
The children of yarn merchant Salme Malmikunnas are played by Sanna-Kaisa Palo, Jaakko Saariluoma and Armi Toivanen. The other roles are played by Markku Huhtamo, Teemu Palosaari, Kari-Pekka Toivonen, Leena Uotila and Aslak Mamadou.
The roles of Raila Leppäkoski’s skilled actors, honed in skilled hands, provided a good background for Valkama’s performance in the flames. I want to highlight the incredible adaptability of Leena Uotila, who played ten different roles, she naturally changed roles from consultant to music teacher, from salesperson to police officer and so on.