Review: Kummitusjuna

We jumped on the City Theatre’s Ghost Train with the group and I didn’t really know what to expect. A subway ride, different people, lots of singing, a new musical… Okay, while waiting for them. Eagerly.

The Ghost Train is a musical written by Lauri Maijala and Sinna Virtanen, composed by Anna-Mari Kähärä and Jussi Tuurna, and directed by Lauri Maijala. The roles are played by the City Theatre’s singing group Ochetti, i.e. Tuukka Leppänen, Antti Timonen, Petrus Kähkönen, Janne Marja-Aho, Sanna Majuri, Ursula Salo, Emilia Nyman and Tiina Peltonen. The musical tells the story of a metro ride through Helsinki towards Espoo, which unfortunately can only be seen in dreams. At every stop, a story is told, and every story touches you.

Humour cuts and hits the heart of the matter, sometimes you are ashamed to laugh. Almost absurd and at the same time insanely insightful, The Ghost Train awakens our deepest fears and dreams, and mocks them in front of our eyes, doing it in such a sophisticatedly blatant way that you can’t quite believe it. Death is laughed at, but it is also silenced. The most touching scenes are Sanna Majuri’s grandmother surrounded by snow and Tuukka Leppänen and Emilia Nyman in the tiger and girl scene. The Herttoniemi skier scene is also a great scene. The crazy and hilarious but slightly gloomy stop on Siilitie also comes up. My favorite scene is the freezer episode by Antti Timonen and Tiina Peltonen, great choreography and singing! The entire cast sings wonderfully and the crowd scenes cause cold shivers as soon as the first chords echo.

The children’s musical The Ghost Train is not, and it may not be suitable for all young people or adults either. It’s not scary in itself, but the age limit for K16 probably comes from the content of the story and its certain darkness. I think the recommended age limit, i.e. 16 years, is a very good thing, it certainly limits the audience in the right direction. On the ghost train, it is also good to know the surroundings of Helsinki a little more extensively than I know, then the stories of the stops would probably open up even better.

The Ghost Train offers miscellaneous human destinies, dark secrets, shameless humour, lively narration and handsome singing. A wonderful musical that tickles the mind and examines the emotions!