Review: AtomiAatos

This morning I went to see the Helsinki City Theatre’s play Aatomi Aatos. I was able to watch the performance, which lasted just over half an hour, in a great company: in addition to me, our line-up included two 2-year-old ladies and my friends. My mother was planning to take my daughter to see Atomi Aatonen already last spring, but I was hesitant about the recommended age limit for the performance, which is 4 years. However, Atomi Aatos stayed on my mind and when the autumn performances started, I decided to get us tickets for the performance.

The ladies took over the theatre by running around Studio Pasila. The performance was held in the foyer, where you could choose a seat either on mattresses or benches placed on the floor. We chose seats on the mattress in the front row and when the lights dimmed to signal the start of the performance, I think both ladies were a little nervous. However, the tension soon dissipated and the whole group followed with interest the imaginary journey of Atomi Aatos (Sanna-June Hyde) among moving boxes. The play also included a touching message and a story about a little boy’s thoughts in the midst of his parents’ divorce. The story was carried forward by the music created by, which was at least to the taste of this mother (and obviously also the daughter). In addition to Aatos, Aatos’s mother (Helena Haaranen), who is drowning her grief in a bag of candy, and the Biowaste Man (Rauno Ahonen), who is suffering from an identity crisis, also got to rap.

Although the little ladies may not have fully understood the message of the play in all its touchingness, my daughter exclaimed after the play: “Mom, that was nice theatre!”. The girls were able to sit still throughout the performance and even Atomi Aatos himself came to praise the girls after the performance for how well they managed to concentrate on the play. High fives were also exchanged with other members of the cast. I’m guessing we’ll be browsing the Atomi Aatos script once or twice in the next few days. Next we will go to see the play Elves as Shoemakers in December. In the meantime, we could check out Puppet Theatre Sampo’s autumn offerings. We have already been to the puppet theatre a couple of times last spring.

After the show was over, it was time for lunch and we headed to Restaurant Factory on Elimäenkatu. The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunchtime, and around eleven o’clock the place was filled with workplace lunchers. However, there was plenty of room for two mothers with strollers and there were also high chairs for both ladies. We mothers ate salads for lunch from a fresh salad bar with an unbelievably wide selection. You could choose the fillings for the salad yourself, and the person who dissed the meat dish also found the very pleasant and filling fillings for their salad. The toddlers ate meatballs with mashed potatoes for lunch and for dessert, the little ladies got to feast on pancakes and ice cream. Good food and, above all, excellent customer service crowned the morning theater experience!