Review: Terrorismi

WITH SMALL HINGES TOGETHER

The end result of terrorism is dark humour, which does make you laugh, but which
Play escapes from a fast ride.

Oleg and Vladimir Presnjakov: Terrorism. Translated by Jukka Mallinen. Control
Viktor Drevitski. Set design by Oskari Torvinen. Costumes by Irmeli Toivanen. Cast: Pekka
Strang, Santeri Kinnunen, Markku Huhtamo, Sampo Sarkola, Vappu Nalbantoglu,
Pekka Huotari, Marjatta Raita and Eija Vilpas. Finnish premiere in Helsinki
City Theatre’s Studio in Pasila 2.2.; The review is based on the 4.2.
performance.

The place of terrorism is somewhere in Russia. You can hear it in the music, its
you can see it in the clothes that happily repeat even the clichés, you can recognize it
for example, from some occasional mention of a kopeck. Maybe you can sense it too
the stubborn tiles in the soldiers’ shower room or the atmosphere of a residential suburb.

I think the region is on the fringes of Russia, even though there is an airport there.
And yet – the play written by the Siberian Presnyakov brothers depicts
world in general, where violence is a real threat, where oppression and
workplace bullying are commonplace and where one’s own boredom, cravings and
Desires very easily trump caring for another person.

Besides, Jukka Mallinen’s slang-spiced Finnish translation sets the tone
to think that something can be universally true.

Also black humour
laugh

The six acts of the Presnakov’s play are connected to each other in small
hinges. Sometimes the hinges are so small that the displays look very independent,
only thematically related. The structure of the play makes it
interesting: each person is the protagonist of their own story, but the
The stories touch on each other.

The mix of genres created by Viktor Drevitsky is also interesting. See
confuses the horror visions, parody, grotesque exaggeration of the technologically advanced world, and
Then it sometimes lets the everyday realism show. The end result is grim
humour, from which the game escapes a hard ride.

Of course, Terrorism is a frightening spectacle. But also black humour
laughs. It is at its wildest and most lavish in a show where the grannies – Eija Vilpas
and Marjatta Raita – sitting on a bench in the yard as babysitters. Theme and story
roll forward, and the content of the speeches rattles with amusements and
horrors. An additional dose of humour is added to the already existing humour when the expression has been borrowed
Ingredients for light jokes. Even though Vilppa’s and Raita’s grandmothers make me laugh
tears in my eyes and stomach curls, the horror stays and intensifies.

In front of your eyes
or between the ears?

The beginning of the play felt a bit stiff. It did load weapons and other things
suspense, the actors were smooth and… and still somewhere in the back of my mind
I was swayed by the thought that this is not just a problem for us strangers
admiration of the exoticism of writers, the theatre is just okay and
From the point of view of Kymenlaakso, only variety.

No. The play begins to come alive, the actors jump from one role and style to another
make viewers believe and doubt. Terrorism leaves room to think about what
There really is something going on in the play and what is happening in the world. It makes you ask,
what is imagined by the characters and what is the reality of the play, do
explosions in front of the eyes or between the ears. The answers don’t really have
doesn’t matter.

Oskari Torvinen’s clinical staging is great.

Päivi Taussi

The Presnyakov brothers
Vladimir, b. 1974
Oleg, b. 1969
His birthplace and hometown is the former Sverdlovsk in Siberia, where
before the revolution the name was and is now Yekaterinburg
Vladimir is a political scientist, Oleg a literary and linguist;
both have taught at the A. M Gorky University in the Urals
The brothers write together; Their plays have been performed not only
In Russia, at least 14 other countries, including England.