Review: Mulle kaikki heti
To Me Everything Right Now revue is much better than its reputation
The critics of our largest daily newspapers relatively often dismiss a performance, which then nevertheless gains the popularity of the general public. I’ve also been asked quite a few times why and I’ve had to think about it.
First, the reason may be the critic’s attitude or background. He may have seen the world’s most well-oiled, mega-budget performances, for which he sets his own bar.
They may have ambitions related to theatre themselves, i.e. they may have directed and/or written themselves or at least want to work in the field, in which case that fact affects commentary in many different ways. Or maybe the writer simply doesn’t like certain types of performances – for example, entertainment or musicals, etc. – and the criticism is accordingly.
Personally, I think that not all proposals can be evaluated with the same indicators. The performances in Helsinki should not be judged with the same criteria as the works in London or New York, and the performances in Kemi, Kokkola or Salo with the same criteria as the works in Helsinki, Turku or Tampere. The types, starting points and resources of theatre should always be taken into account.
Due to the culmination of my children’s summer sports hobbies, I was not able to see the Helsinki City Theatre’s new revue Mulle allt heti for its press premiere, but only a few days later. I deliberately refrained from reading reviews written by my fellow critics, as I had adopted more than 20 years ago, but I could not help noticing the very negative headline of an article by a reviewer of the nation’s number one newspaper.
My surprise was quite a surprise again, as there was a perfectly passable, well-acted, very handsomely danced and mostly also well-sung entertainment song, which also seemed to be enjoyed by the paying audience. The team of Helsinki KT is absolutely top-notch in the country, as are the visitors who usually qualify for the performances. The theatre’s solid and well-knit dance troupe, led by Nigel Charnock, is almost at the European star level.
The script – written by Claes Andersson, Tiina Lepistö, Outi Popp, Henri Kapulainen and the director of the performance Neil Harwick, among others – follows the naughty contemporary style of good taste, and of course it could perhaps be slightly better, but there is nothing big or fundamental wrong with it, any more than in the songs or music composed by musician, conductor and songwriter Iiro Rantala. Similar entertainment, which criticises our own time with varying results, has often been seen before in the capital, in provincial theatres and on TV.
The education sector, the public health services suffering from problems, precocious know-it-alls sitting in the sandbox, restaurant throwers, reconstituted families and the gap between generations all get their share of the stitches of the numerous fluent sketches. The best moments of laughter almost make the audience laugh with tears in their eyes, even the worst ones smile along.
The audience present at the performance I saw – I guess mainly from Helsinki – deserves the fact that the most furious applause was given too easily to the most familiar names (e.g. Ulla Tapaninen, Riitta Havukainen, Pekka Huotari, Risto Kaskilahti, Mikko Kivinen and Esko Roine). On the other hand, the lesser-known young prospects – in this case Maija Kalaoja and Antti Timonen – were either completely ignored or received far too muted applause for their performance.
Andersson-Hardwick-Kapulainen-Lepistö-Miettinen-Popp: Mulle allt heti -revue. Helsinki City Theatre’s premiere on the big stage 26/8. Dir. Neil Hardwick.