Review: Kaktuksen kukka

A sparkling light farce – The Cactus Flower

Oh, what lightness. French silliness and nimble comedy at its best. That is the Helsinki City Theatre’s play The Cactus Flower. A relationship farce that takes on more and more farcical features scene after scene. An absolutely upbeat and entertaining theatre experience. The French know the genre of light-hearted comedy, where the story grows and accelerates towards the end to become more and more ridiculous and special. The audience just couldn’t hold back their laughter anymore.

The cactus flower starts from an arrangement in which a slightly older dentist is in a relationship with a young woman. The dentist has deceived that he is a reserved man with a family so that he would not have to commit to his crush. But the doctor falls in love and that is the start of a most wonderful story with invented wives and children. When it feels like the story couldn’t get any more complicated, the plot creates encounters and relationship patterns through chance, the explanations of which just don’t stand the light of day anymore. And that makes the audience laugh.

The main roles of the story are played by Santeri Kinnunen and Satu Silvo, who give amazing performances. Kinnunen as a doctor and Silvo as his tense assistant. The pair’s words, differences and sense of rhythm are brilliant. The role of Vappu Nalbantoglu’s mistress remains a bit thin, although the flower girl’s jamming fits the description of the time. French comedies are often fast, and so it is this time as well. Scenes and sets change nimbly and there are many subplots towards the end. Eventually, even the doctor played by Kinnunen gets tired of explaining his relationship patterns. Like a snowball effect, the doctor’s small scam becomes too big. But as always in light-hearted comedies – all ends well.

Eija Vilpas, who plays several supporting roles, deserves a special mention. Vilpas, who presents himself as a dentist’s customer, a waiter and a DJ, laughs with his mere appearance. The costumes and set design of the play also include details that only the most attentive will notice. The outfit of the Vilppas character at the dentist’s office changes more and more patterned each time, and the hats the higher, in sync with the increasingly confused behavior of the role. Eventually, a flower appears on the cactus of Silvo’s assistant’s desk, which depicts Silvo’s character’s transformation from a tense assistant to an attractive and liberated woman. Details that tell of a carefully considered play.

The Cactus Flower is also a movie. The film, released in 1969, stars Walter Matthau, Goldie Hawn and Ingrid Bergman. Unfortunately, the movie can’t be found on Netflix, but the movie is definitely next on the list of things to watch. The play left a good mood and made the audience laugh even outside the theatre. This must be experienced again.