Review: Ministeriä viedään

Despite the fact that Ray Cooney’s play Out of Order was written in Britain in the early 1990s, the Helsinki City Theatre has managed to place the performance seamlessly in Finland in the 2010s.

There have already been quite a few farces, especially at the Helsinki City Theatre, but The Minister Is Taken is a bull’s-eye. Esko Roine plays a light-hearted minister and Asko Sarkola plays his political assistant. So a very classic setup.

This duo has also been seen a lot, but when watching the play, you remember again why – the chemistry and dynamics of Sarkola and Roine just work well. Sarkolan Pöntinen in particular sinks into me as a character. It’s just a killer.

Santeri Kinnunen, Sari Siikander, Eppu Salminen, Kaisa Torkkel, Vappu Nalbantoglu and Eija Vilpas make enseble functional and alert. On the other hand, when watching the performance again, a question or two arises – for example, what is the reason for Eero Saarinen’s small roles? If anyone, you really wish to see him finally and finally in a bigger role.

You didn’t catch me! You thought I forgot about Heidi Herala. I would never do that. I will use this section to praise Herala without exception: an unbelievably versatile and fine actor. I praise!

Watching the performance, one cannot help but be amazed at how apt and inventive topical political topics have been crammed into the play. They really brought the necessary impetus and perspective to the performance, which I think is too rarely available. For that, thanks go to the working group and, of course, to the translator Pentti Järvinen.

In his directorial role, Neil Hardwick has succeeded again – the audience laughed and stayed with them throughout the duration of the performance. Political satire comes naturally to Hardwick. I don’t know exactly how many actors have been directed in this work, but in any case, the directing of the characters has hit the mark.

The eye catches the eye on the stylish set design – quite a number of doors and hotel rooms have been embedded in the relatively small stage. The set design solution is inventive and pleasing to the eye in its visuals. The implementation works in every way – starting from the script.

However, a common problem with farces is one-sidedness. Many farces feel exactly the same – similar characters have adventures in different door worlds, the hotel is probably the most used. However, having seen several representatives of the genre, I can say that The Minister Is Taken is by far the most successful and funniest farce I’ve seen.

For some reason, this gem only runs during the autumn season, so hurry up and see before the doors close – this is the minister you want to see!