Review: Kipupiste
Based on real events, this harsh work is about neo-Nazis and the responsibility of theatre.
On the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, you can now see quite snappy and unbowed political theatre based on real events. In the 1990s, Sweden was shaken by a series of events that began in prison. Three criminals classified as dangerous invited the writer Lars Norén to work with them on a play, and this is how a very special theatre project was born. It culminated in the escape of prisoners and police killings.
What made the case particularly confusing was the neo-Nazi ideology of the prisoners, which was only gradually revealed. Author Elisabeth Åsbrink wrote a book about the events, Smärtpunkten, which Bengt Ahlfors and Johan Bargum have adapted into a play. It has been translated into Finnish by Liisa Urpilainen and directed by Kari Heiskanen.
True theatre
The execution on a small stage is quite harsh: everything unnecessary has been stripped away, the text and the passion of thought speak for themselves. Only the slow-moving stage occasionally emphasizes the events, the point of view varies, but the facts remain.
The author, played by Tiia Louste, opens the presentation in a matter-of-fact and convincing way. We are at the heart of Brechtian theatre: this is how things could happen, and it is the audience’s responsibility what happens next. Next, we see a violent mail robbery, through which the audience becomes a witness to the events.
In the prison gym
Events are electrified when three sweaty, bodied, super-cold guys march in. Niko Saarela, Sampo Sarkola and Tommi Rantamäki interpret the dangerous prisoners in an excellent, even frighteningly appealing way. The men’s roles ingeniously and confusingly combine bitterness and mocking arrogance. The revelation of Nazi ideology gives me goosebumps. You can see that Heiskanen has done a good job especially with this trio.
Jouko Klemettilä credibly interprets the playwright Norén and Leena Rapola his assistant and theatre producer. Especially the scenes set in prison are interesting and titillating. Interviewing three dangerous prisoners is frightening and somehow arousing at the same time. Rapola’s character clearly likes the charm of danger.
Theatre’s responsibility
Nowadays, various theatre projects with special groups are familiar and welcome forms of drama. In the 1990s, the idea was still rare, and Kipupiste reveals what kind of twist it took to partially release the prisoners for the project in question. Leenamari Unho interprets the prison administration, which is responsible for the decision to take the project outside the prison. A bad premonition and the thriller tickle rise to the surface.
The thematic climax is reached when the group’s performance has attracted a huge amount of attention in the media. But did the personal histories of the three prisoners or the prison administration in Sweden attract attention? No, the main focus was on Nazi ideology. In a constructed TV debate, the supporters and opponents of the project clash. Pekka Huotari plays an impressive role as a Jewish representative of the audience, who calls for the responsibility of the theatre: can the theatre renounce the agreement made with the audience regarding the illusion? Now the actors are not playing prisoners, but prisoners themselves. Can theatre be used to spread a questionable ideology? What is the difference between provocation and propaganda? The performance gives the audience a lot to think about.
At the point of pain
The operational pain point is reached when the murders of two police officers (Heikki Sankari and Jan-Christian Söderholm) are reconstructed on stage. The feeling of reality is drastic. Vappu Nalbantoglu touchingly interprets the widow of another police officer. The injustice of depriving oneself of life is strongly concretized.
The intense performance raises a lot of food for thought to take home. The dialogue in the performance is precise and concise. The audience is not let go easily, but Heiskanen takes it to the sore point. The rough play is far from gentle musicals and pleasure theatre. Hopefully, audiences will find this harsh work that forces them to look the facts in the eye without flinching.