Review: Tanssiaiset

Waiting for life

Hanna Brotherus, who has a background as a dancer, has directed Ball, based on the novel by Irène Némirovsky, as her debut work at the Helsinki City Theatre.

Brotherus has put everything he knows on the line about the expressive power of the movement, the awakening of sexuality, the jealousy, fear and revenge that is brewing in the relationship between mother and daughter. The director defines the play as a story about waiting.

The casting is perfect: dancer Sofia Hilli as the daughter, Leena Rapola as the mother, the puppet of her position as the mother, comedians Aino Seppo and Elsa Saisio, who performs a rubbery caricature.