Review: There’s no Harri

Workers’ theatre

Mika Ripatti (b. 1964) has had a successful career as a TV and film screenwriter (including the Jussi Award-winning film Nousukausi, the TV series Sydänjää and Seitsemän), but he did not write his first play until 2009. Oulu City Theatre’s work community-themed
Stockholm was an extremely entertaining and coherent debut, and the second play, which has now premiered at the Helsinki City Theatre’s Studio Pasila, continues on the same path: a working life theme that is in tune with the times and a high entertainment factor.

There’s no Harri, which has a name twisted from English and sounds clever at first glance, justifies its title during the performance. It is not only about a staffing company called Hurry Up, but more specifically about the fate of its founder, Harri Järvinen, which is a tragicomedy an sich.

Mice in men’s work

Hurry Up Henkilöstöpalvelut (HUH) is a company run by Harri, his friend Antti and the latter’s future ex-wife Leena, which is not doing very well. Anti-social gossip is spread about it on social media – even a hate group is founded – because of its “corporate culture” that tramples on its employees.

Soon we will be in a situation where HUH has no workforce to carry. So Harri and Antti, who are not qualified in real jobs, have to pull on their gloves themselves and become workers. Harri is hired as a temporary portal inspector, which does not mean a glamorous IT industry, but checking the condition of traffic road signs, and Antti gets a gig at an asphalt company.

As a roaster, as he first mistakenly hears and thinks, but in reality, in the language of the industry, the name of the job is a butcher, i.e. an old man who rots stuff with a shovel for the shovelers and rollers on the construction site.

Antti is suitable for road work, but not in terms of skills. However, the jovial and class-conscious asphalt men Mara and Jukka quickly take him into their tender arms, and soon they are already slapping high fives in honor of their joint achievements.

Antti’s ex Leena tries to break away from everyday life with definite exercise, perhaps motivated by the mysterious newcomer Eero, who has not been introduced.

Harri is also successful in his own way and soon finds a soulmate in Sini, a gig cleaner at his workplace. Harri is under pressure from his wife Jaana, a wannabe top graphic designer who wants quality from life, such as teriyaki delicacies and an apartment in Arabianranta. For Harri, Siwa’s products and Koivukylä would be enough.

Nuanced comedy

There’s no Harri is 21st century workers’ theatre in terms of its themes and why not its audience audience, although it certainly opens up as a mainstream comedy. In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about precariats, temporary workers’ own choices adapted to their life situation and, on the other hand, their weak position in the stone-hearted labour market, and Ripatti’s play brings its own perspective to the discussion. At glimpses of serious, ironic, hilarious but by no means cynical.

The rich ingredients of Ripatti’s text build an eclectic comedy that stays in the grip of director Tiina Lymi the more twisted things get. From the more conventional sitcom and verbal shenanigans, we progress to a downright rumbling farce in the final stages, where a huge backlog of misunderstandings and pulls is cleared by making a fuss and marveling while cherishing the best farce traditions. The pace is just about to go over, but miraculously we get to a serene final slide and the “what happened to them” part, which in this case is exceptionally charmingly executed.

Ville Tiihonen is responsible for the play’s more sad sound and genuinely touching moments as Harri, while Mari Perankoski tears at the other extreme as Jaana, who is a really demanding, self-centered and (in her own mind) hot package.

For once, Jussi Lampi gets to show his old asphalt man skills on stage. In this case, it is more difficult for him to pretend to be incompetent than a genuine knitting man. The role grows gracefully, and Antti, who at first seems lazy, develops into a completely new man. With a capital M.

Kaisa Mattila , in the role of Leena, also accelerates the rounds in such a way that this pathological pilates-step-exercise bike-gymnastics ball, etc. addict develops into the most delicious character in the play, even though he started as a gray sparrow in the office. On the other hand, Panu Vauhkonen and Juha Jokela , swinging as asphalt ladies, are full of “haba” from the first image to the final tear. I wish I could see choreographies like this on road construction sites!