Review: Prinssi Rama ja Bubu

Indian fairy tale for children

On a sumptuous play of colors with Asian décor and ditto costumes, the fairy tale of Prince Rama and the monkey child Bubu offered. Everything was planned down to the smallest detail, the costumes, the puppets, the movements of the hands and, not least, the excellent acting with the experienced trio of Tiia Louste, Jyrki Nousiainen and Marjut Toivanen in their many roles. The frame story, skilfully written by Christina Andersson and well translated by Henna Piirto, was related by everyone and one was on stage and illustrated with different techniques, such as classic changes of clothes and thus roles, puppets and finally posters with symbolic scenes.

It was an ambitious direction to bring to life the rather complicated story with its many actors. That the director of this play, Ralf Forsström , is one of the country’s most illustrious set designers, certainly showed. The frequently changing characters required actors with experience and a sense of playfulness, and here the choice of Tiia Louste, Jyrki Nousiainen and Marjut Toivanen has been extremely successful. They have fully understood how difficult such an investment for children is.

Prince Rama becomes the victim of a court intrigue and cannot become king for fourteen years. So he goes out into the woods with his wife and brother. He is brave and upright, fights demons, gets the monkey king on his side through the monkey child Bubu, defeats the ruler of the demons and saves his princess back. And so fourteen years have passed and he retires to the court and becomes king. This is an “illustrated classic” version of the play, which is in fact much more intricate and nuanced.

It was clear that it was a little too long, complicated and too much for very young children. School-age children will surely get more out of the play. A somewhat disturbing factor was the noise that penetrated from the corridors of the Tennis Palace. The foyer behind the coat rack was perhaps not entirely suitable for a play based on words. It was also quite a pity for the voluptuous auspici. The play would have deserved a less modest environment.
Recommended for the whole family