Review: Metsä

In a traditional forest

Take a rich manor lady, a greedy merchant, a scheming maid, and young, immodest lovers. Add two kind-hearted but poor actors and a wise servant, and you get the comedy The Forest, written by Aleksandr Ostrovsky more than a hundred years ago.

Typified characters and a predictable plot reveal the age of the play, but on the other hand, the relationship between a wealthy lady and a young boy is a timeless theme. The magnificent backdrops and emotional music that bring the forest to the stage are refreshingly traditional effects.

Asko Sarkola and Esko Roine are at home as travelling country actors. One as a tragedy who succumbs to pathos, but at best is convincing, the other as a practical comedian. However, the stage is dominated by Lasse Pöysti’s servant Karp, who sees everything and through everyone. The Finnish-Russian production is directed by theatre legend Yuri Solomin, and Russian names are also behind the sets, costumes and music.