Review: Sylvi ja Anita

Strong drama about Kekkonen’s women


Author Panu Rajala is right in his assessment that it is not insignificant what is happening behind the shadowy façade of power.

The role models of Rajala’s play Sylvi and Anita , Sylvi Kekkonen and Anita Hallama , were wise and tough women in the life of President Urho Kekkonen . They had to be deeply aware of the significance of their decisions and moves to the moods of the country’s leader.

Ambassador Jaakko Hallama’s wife Anita’s relationship with Kekkonen, which began in the 1960s, was an open secret at the time. Rajala’s play focuses on two women in a square drama.
Anita Hallama herself wrote in 2001 in her book Sydänn kieli sydänlle (The Language of the Heart) that “four people were aware of what was happening; everyone accepted it for their own reasons and even consciously – or unconsciously – acted in the direction that our communication with Urho Kekkonen continued. No one can understand such a thing except the one who has fallen into it, and perhaps not even he in all respects.”

Sylvia is played by Sylvi Kekkonen’s sister’s daughter Eeva-Liisa Haimelin, who in her premiere on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre managed to create a physically familiar character with a twist that her contemporaries did not see in public. Sylvi knew about Urho’s women, but she did not tolerate public embarrassment.

Heidi Herala Anitana underscores the strong-willed hostess of the embassy in Moscow, but according to contemporary testimony, aptly.

The premiere featured well-known celebrities, such as Tellervo Koivisto and Vuokko and Paavo Väyrynen, who probably have personal memories of the subject. A commendable programme has been prepared for younger children to help them follow the play.

Rajala’s text as a combination of a document and a fiction works surprisingly well. In addition to the two women, only the silent background character, dancer Ville Sormunen, will be seen on stage.