Review: Vakavuusongelma

The Problem of Seriousness – a Finnish play at the heart of the time

True or illusion?

Spring brings with it yet another new set of plays. One of the spring premieres at the Helsinki City Theatre is Mika Ripatti’s new play The Problem of Seriousness.

Ripatti is remembered for his numerous scripts for various television series and films. For example, he wrote the script for the film The Killer Looking Man. In The Problem of Seriousness, Ripatti boldly tackles topical themes: the play perceptively examines privatisation, redundancies, ageing and insomnia.

In the play, the city’s construction workers are working on a new district of Lintupuisto in an area that is an old lake bed. There is plenty of clay and the earth is alive. There is a slight sense of the supernatural in the air: as if the earth does not want to be built on it. Or is it just an illusion created by the protagonist’s mind?

The construction site will not avoid problems during the construction phase: the ground is not stable. This is where the title of the play comes from, The Serious Problem. On the other hand, the name can also be approached from another perspective. The construction service is threatened by privatization and redundancies. The atmosphere is anything but light.

An excellent line-up of actors

The site master is the absolutely brilliant Pertti Koivula. He is downright hilariously comical with his abundant sprawling speeches. However, the actual protagonist of the play is Pete, played by Jari Pehkonen. The character is a grumpy shovel man who will soon turn 50 and likes to be alone. She has been suffering from insomnia for a long time and has hallucinations. Tired, Pete makes a fatal miscalculation with sad consequences. Pete’s story is intertwined with the director of the city’s construction services, the excellent Anja. There are no less than two actors in the role of the leader. The middle-aged Anja is played by Heidi Herala and the younger version by Annika Aapalahti. Their performances are very touching.

Spiced up with humour

The staging of the stability problem was impressive: the construction site machines projected on the wall with their huge sound effects created a believable atmosphere from the construction site. Despite its harshness, the atmosphere of the play was warm and understanding. Low-income workers inevitably received the sympathy of the spectators. There was also enough humour in the play, even though its genre is closer to drama than comedy. The end of the play was impressively touching. Many other viewers were just as impressed as I was. After the play, the applause was long.