Review: Peppi Pitkätossu
Pippi Longstocking swims in colours
Helsinki City Theatre’s Pippi Longstocking transforms the entire big stage into a colour circus.
When almost all of the Pippi stories are immersed in just over two hours, a breathtaking play is created. In addition to being breathtaking, Pippi Longstocking is also a bit fragmented, but as a result, the play offers something for everyone.
Pippi Longstocking, directed by Milko Lehto, holds together well. The play is built entirely on Pippi, no attempt has even been made to create actual personalities for the other characters, but the characters are mainly made with the help of various external factors.
The themes of the play are friendship and difference.
Pippi Longstocking is clearly a play for the whole family. Levels have been created in the text that will entertain both children and adults.
When everything possible is immersed in two hours, Pippi has plenty to do. You have to go to the circus to defeat the strongest man in the world, fight gold coin robbers, go to school and cake parties, prove to both the social services and the police that you can manage on your own, and miss your father. As is typical of a musical play, there are occasional bursts into singing and dancing.
The actor jumps, climbs, sings…
For the role of Pippi, all this means that for just over two hours, the actress jumps, climbs, dances, sings and takes the play forward. The main roles are alternated between Anna-Riikka Rajanen and Maija Koivisto. At the premiere, the role was played by Rajanen, who performed the challenging task seemingly lightly.
Other central characters are, of course, Tommi (Petrus Kähkönen), Annika (Raili Raitala) and Mrs. Ryöppyvaara (Ursula Salo). However, their main task remains to support the character of Pippi. Despite this, Ursula Salo in particular makes the most of her character. However, the greatest joy is provided by dancing robbers Jymy-Juntunen (Sauli Suonpää) and Kukkanen (Iikka Forss) and police officers Jeppe (Tuukka Leppänen) and Juppe (Iikka Forss). Robbers who speak fluent Turku are not the sharpest pencils in the pencil case, but I don’t think everyone is at home either.
The City Theatre’s Pippi Longstocking is like her role model, mischievous, but still quite kind. A bit anarchist, but respectful of others.
Pippi Longstocking’s set design is wonderful to look at. Markus Tsokkinen has created several fairy-tale worlds that quickly transform from a pleasure mound to a pirate ship or even a circus. The set design is supported by William Ile’s magnificent lighting, which sometimes lives a life of its own and definitely in a positive sense. The crowd scenes are bathed in colour, as circus performers, children, pirates and police officers are marched onto the stage to accompany the set and lighting.
There are a huge number of different costumes on stage, which are the responsibility of Riitta Röpelinen. Pippi Longstocking is a treat for the eyes.
Based on the books by Astrid Lindgren. Translated by Liisa Ryömä. Dramatization: Staffan Götestam. Director: Milko Lehto. Music: Georg Riedel, Jan Johansson. Set design: Markus Tsokkinen. Costumes: Riitta Röpelinen. Cast: Anna-Riikka Rajanen, Petrus Kähkönen, Raili Raitala, Ursula Salo, Kaisa Torkkel, Panu Vauhkonen, Tuukka Leppänen, Iikka Forss.