Review: Kaktuksen kukka

The boots are pretty big, only should I say high heels are the ones that Satu Silvo slips her feet into . In the 1969  film The Cactus Flower , Stéphanie Dickinson, a dentist’s clerk assistant (Stéphanie Vigneau in the original play), was played byIngrid Bergman.

Satu Silvo is now Stéphanie on the Hämeentie Arena stage of the Helsinki City Theatre. Stéphanie, who lives alone with her mother, is the epitome of the so-called traditional old maid, a pedant, a woman who manages her boss’s schedule, who blends into the dead (nowadays we would probably talk about a single woman instead of an old maid).

Or does it blend in with the wallpaper?

The star of the farce directed by Arn-Henrik Blomqvist is the incredible Satu Silvo, who once again demonstrates her talent as an actress. The same Silvo who played the role admired by audiences and critics at the Espoo City Theatre last spring in Pasi Lampela’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (a play depicting Edward Albee’s family hell) fills the entire stage with his presence and charisma.

Silvo is credibly and strongly present in his role, and does not fall for a moment  into the easiest clichés, the worst enemies of farce. A strong counterpart is Santeri Kinnunen, the son of Silvo’s ex-husband Heikki Kinnunen , who masters the precise and precise timing required for comedy. 

Goldie Hawn , who played a secret affair with a dentist in the film, won a supporting actress Oscar for her role. At the City Theatre, the role is played by Vappu Nalbantoglu, absolutely excellent,  but everyone who has seen her on stage and on television knows what else she is capable of: in the role of Aino Kuusinen in Comrade K at the City Theatre and Hertta Kuusinen, who is strongly interpreted in the Red Triangle on television .

The cactus flower bursts into splendor with Silvo. She is a strong, independent woman who knows what she wants!

A special mention for the performance goes to costume designer Riitta Anttonen-Palo, whose miniskirts and jersey overalls depicting the 1960s I would like to have in my own wardrobe right away!