Review: Tohtori Zivago

Dr. Zivago is not a musical nonsense

Helsinki City Theatre’s new musical tells a great love story about the whirlwind of the Russian Revolution.

Now we have reason to congratulate the Helsinki City Theatre. It was the first European theatre to pick up the musical Doctor Zivago , which premiered in Australia, and which has nothing to do with a film made in the 1960s.

The story, written by Michael Weller, is inspired by Lucy Simon’s music (the composer is related to singer Carly Simon, who wrote the song You so only for actor Warren Beatty…).

The basic questions of the musical, like Boris Pasternak’s classic novel, are a sense of honour, the right and wrong actions of a person. And, of course, the passionate love that the main characters of the story, Yuri Zivago and his beloved Lara, cannot avoid.

Hans Berndtsson’s direction starts a little slowly, and the first half is just a preparation for what is to come. Then things start to happen.

Lara and Zivago’s love story ignites under horrific circumstances as they treat wounded soldiers at the front. The situation is believable, and the musical does not indulge in pathos or indulge in massive crowd scenes.

Tuukka Leppänen does the biggest job of his career as Zivago, and with every look on his face, he shows the pain he feels as a man who cheats on his wife and loves Lara.

Anna-Maijan Tuokko Lara is a holistic interpretation of the role. Tuokko is intensely present on stage, strong and sensitive at the same time. Lara and Zivago’s erotically beautiful lovemaking scene is one of the most delicate ever seen on the stage of the City Theatre.

Antti Timonen , who plays the role of Lara’s husband, transforms from a young idealist to a cruel partisan leader so well that it grabs your soul. Underneath the cruelty lies a man disappointed in his dreams.

Dr. Zivago is not just a love story, but a musical with a social message. The closest point of comparison is the musical Les Miserables .