Review: Siiri ja kamala possu

Oh, if only you could have been there…

Theatre performances for the little ones are always welcome. At the same time, adults can also watch them – mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandparents, godparents, families and singles. Who wouldn’t think it would be great to remember how cool it was to be defiant.

Time passes smoothly with Tiina Nopola’s books. For example, Siiri knows many Ottos and Onni upstairs and the really fierce Hunskel.

But now we are talking about a pig that is said to be horrible and who arrives at the theatre Siiri as a changeover in a postal package. The Toy Hospital was supposed to return the bunny after the parsing, but there was a “human error”. Siiri is shocked.

As a director, Taina Mäki-Iso has really captured the spirit of the text, the execution includes both play and humour, children’s thinking and learned behavioural patterns. Accepting differences and putting oneself in the other’s shoes are at the beginning of Siiri’s growth. The value of one’s own insight in overcoming unnecessary fears is also great, and if and when the performance accelerates a similar process in the little viewers, it has fulfilled one of the tasks entrusted to fairy tales.

Elina Reinikka is an attractive and energetic Siiri, with excellent gestures and facial expressions. The movement language is funnily flexible, and there is no lack of speed in the stage movements. Matti Laine plays many roles and builds the story with all the “seriousness”. When the transformation from mother to shoemaker, from shoemaker to doctor takes place here and now, the basic idea of theatre takes shape for the little ones, while the feeling is familiar from their own games like: “Now this is a policeman?”

The music complements the narrative well, but it could have been given more space and weight.

The rhythmic pace triggers participation and the need to participate in the little spectators, and removes possible tension and casting. And it wouldn’t have been bad to entice the audience to take a stand on some plot puzzles. Watching a play is always a shared experiential experience, and it should be seen and felt in a big way.

The stage design has a commendable amount of pranks and fantasy, and the set design also has a significance in terms of plot progression.

For Siiri and Otto, not to mention the bunny and pig, you can predict good times, because all theatre people love children’s audiences because they are so wonderful.