Review: Viivi ja Wagner

GUARANTEED FINNISH WITHOUT COMPROMISING ON QUALITY
Juba Tuomola’s Viivi and Wagner is a pig-like comedy about a relationship


Of all the miracles of creation, man is probably most concerned about the division into men and women. Some think that natural selection has made men hunters and women gatherers. Others, on the other hand, believe that men are from Mars and women from Venus.

Cartoonist Juba Tuomola puts it better. The men are from the pig farm and the women are apparently made in the handicraft workshops of popular education institutions.

Viivi and Wagner, published in Helsingin Sanomat for almost ten years, has become a huge success. The clear down-to-earth nature of the comic seems to bite both genders equally.

Tuomola’s approach is so straightforward that it is almost impossible to consider a comic book sexist. Rather, it conveys a joy related to sexuality, which is significantly emphasized when the characters enter the theater stage played by actors of flesh and blood.

The play, written by Tuomola himself and premiered at the Turku City Theatre, has been slightly bolded for the Helsinki City Theatre and Studio Pasila.

Viivi and Wagner’s Sunday celebration is interrupted by Wagner’s nightmare of hell during his daydreams, where fallen angels sing endless karaoke. The episode expands the play into a picture of Finnish everyday reality with the same straightforwardness with which a pig can be interpreted as a man.

Investments have been made in the framework of the proposal. Markus Tsokkinen’s piggy red set succeeds brilliantly in illuminating the perceptions of both parties in a relationship about home and its meaning. Costume designer Riitta Anttonen-Palo has transformed the cartoon characters into colourful three-dimensional creations without a single discordant chord that differs from the original. And let’s not forget Antti Vauramo’s music and Osku Heiskanen’s choreography, which give posture and rhythm to the entire performance.

Risto Kaskilahti,who plays Wagner, only needs to raise his foot once, and the audience is sold. The character could have been more rough, but the smooth general look of Tiina Puumalainen’s direction certainly suits the messy showman better. In any case, Kaskilahti’s collaboration with Sari Siikander, who plays Viivi flexibly, goes smoothly without unnecessary underlining and emphasis.

Tuomola aptly describes women’s networking with a three-generation chain. Viivi’s mother and grandmother have been interpreted by skilled comedy performers Heidi Herala and Pia Runnako. The pattern is complemented by Sanna Saarijärvi, who sparkles in the role of Aunt Fylli.

Men work more as a herd. Viivi’s father, played by Matti Rasila , is messing around with his toolbox, and Eppu Salminen’s Uncle Julli is fiddling with his car keys.

Best of all, of course, is that Viivi ja Wagner is guaranteed to be a Finnish product without compromising on quality and without sparing the abdominal muscles.