Review: Katri Helena

In the land of happiness

Who has created the blue sky, the green-icy forest… Little Katri with pigtails sings in an old-fashioned elementary school and immediately gets excited – oh, both Finnish and the lost land of happiness. Still, I hesitate a little: a tribute to a living icon cannot succeed.

The story unfolds like in a Finnish film; from remote villages to the limelight, from folk wisdom to self-righteousness. Well, the speech is not the strongest part of the performance. It is as if newspaper articles were repeated: semi-philosophical sentences about being on the edge of the abyss, untrodden paths and self-discovery, humility and freedom from one’s own chains…

But never mind the script, because everything is presented so brilliantly! Sensitivity and farce in a sweet mess. Colorful costumes, retro-designed Danny and Katri Helena in micro pants and what a Marimekko idyll from a family gathering. On the stage there is a cornfield, a colourful Fiat five-hundredth and a skilled dance troupe, a competent orchestra and actors who really know how to sing. Thank you, among others, Sinikka Sokka (mother), Sari Siikander (journalist) and Sanna Majuri (Katri Helena), who is worthy of her role model!

The stage is also used: a fast-paced staged nightmare, a touching funeral and, as a sketch, love for the slippery Professor. Tule luo and Vie minut songs from theatrically swaying ladders, and with dancers in the sauna, deliciously exaggerating the author’s features.

And when 66-year-old Katri Helena herself stands on stage next to the main character at the end of the premiere – and when they sing together, I have to admit that I have been entertained to the fullest. The performance struck a chord with a lonely heart.