Review: Peppi Pitkätossu

Pippi charms and steals hearts in the City Theatre’s musical play for the whole family.

One of the most amusing media cases last autumn was the news that Pippi films have begun to be censored in Sweden for racist reasons. Astrid Lindgren must have turned in her grave…

Now it is exciting to see what the City Theatre’s version of the world’s strongest girl is like. Director Milko Lehto and his group have created a musical play for the whole family based on the story. Will Pippi still be allowed to be a captivating anarchist, but will she be adapted to society in our time, where the phenomenon of custody is a salient phenomenon?

Fresh and nostalgic

However, it works great and fresh ideas are captivating from the very beginning. Admittedly, Pippi from the year 2015 no longer wears garters, but colorful wool leggings, but otherwise everything is as it should be, including Huvikumpu, Mr. Tossavainen and Pikku-Ukko. Riitta Röpelinen’s costumes and Markus Tsokkinen’s set design are suitably wild and funny, without forgetting nostalgia.

Staffan Götestam’s dramatization is modern and bold. Puns and hilarity have been included, yet the basic story is stylishly preserved. The music of Georg Riedel and Jan Johansson swings nicely. Lehto’s direction is quite energetic, ranging from exciting circus to dancing pirates.

Pippi’s paradox

Lindgren’s heroine has traits that make her still an idol for many: Pippi is witty, articulate, strong, helps her friends and follows the voice of her heart. He is also a lonely half-orphan who misses his father.

At the City Theatre, the demanding and energetic role of Pippi is shared between Anna-Riikka Rajanen and Maija Koivisto. In the performance I saw, Koivisto charmed and completely stole the hearts of the audience. He has irrefutable charisma and joy, but also sensitivity.

Lehto has made Peppi do quite a few tricks, and at times Koivisto’s speed was like in a sporting performance, as my 11-year-old goddaughter said. I was left wondering if Pippi’s treatment with farts on her cheeks was sometimes an unintentional ADHD mess or anarchy? Is Pippi a 2015 model so-called. A boundless child or a person who goes his own way?

The wildness works, but I especially liked the episodes where Koivisto calmed down in his Huvikumpu or mourned while singing about his loneliness. The reunion with his pirate father, Panu Vauhkonen, is downright overwhelming.

Colorful characters

There are a lot of funny characters in the show. Petrus Kähkönen and Raili Raitala empathize with their hearts as loyal friends, Tommi and Annika.

This time, the crooks after Pippi’s money, Iikka Forss and Sauli Suonpää, are fooling around in the Turku dialect. The equally silly police officers of Forss and Tuukka Leppänen, on the other hand, are hilariously tapping in acrobatic scenes. The spike in gentle satire is clearly aimed at the authorities. Kaisa Torkkel as the teacher and Ursula Salo as the aunt of the social worker make excellent caricatures of their characters.

But Pippi is not just taken into custody or put on a school bench! Pippi knows how to snap back wittily when she says at the end that the place of a “lonely little girl” is probably not on a pirate ship after all. So I’ll see you at Huvikumpu!

Pippi Longstocking is an exhilarating performance that is sure to have plenty to talk about with the whole family.