Review: Kadonnut Pihlaja

Pihlaja disappeared, a fairy tale was found

The theatre lover was both literally and figuratively in the foyer watching the premiere of the Helsinki City Theatre’s children’s play The Lost Rowan . Both the performance and its child audience were so embraced.
After the slight initial tension had subsided, the spontaneous giggle of one little girl was heard from the crowd, and then the others dared to throw themselves fully into the story.
I think that the young actors Sari Haapamäki and Sami Hokkanen were able to understand quite clearly what stage art can be at its most successful. So the stage and the audience feed each other. And we all had so much fun…

The performers also deserved the immediate, delighted feedback, as it is hard to imagine a more devoted narrative of a fairy tale. Empathy, transformation, foreboding of the lines, movement and musicality, all of which were succumbed to charmingly and with excellent pantomime skills.
The collaboration between the renowned Swedish director Peter Engkvist and the team has clicked into place without hesitation, and the ideas have spawned new ones as the process progresses.

It is a story about a little girl Pihla, Pihla, and her father, who are separated from each other. The father searches, is in distress and unhappy, but does not get discouraged even though the search does not immediately bring results.
He gets help and advice from the animals of the forest, and even from wood and fire.
Reciprocity is an asset and independence is key, as you can guess if you hear that a man has to fill in for the mother bird in incubation and the frog mother in the role of a swimming instructor, not to mention feeding her.

Although the matter is serious and the lessons it teaches are noteworthy, the way it is told is both entertaining and rewarding. Haapamäki and Hokkanen captivate with their authenticity and flexibility – in the broad sense of the word.
The joy of insight shines in the hall. It doesn’t help much if you say you’re fire, if you don’t look like flames, or a tree, if your whole being doesn’t freeze and your trunk creaks. It will become a bird’s egg and a chick that will soon hatch from it…

“Imagining” is not difficult for a child in whose games it plays a major role, and parents can see it as a stress trigger, for example. Works.

The stage is a forest, at the foot of every tree of which there must be a story, the costumes have the features of a folk tale, the music is joyful, and the driving force is the rhythm that moves the booties of the squatters and bounces merrily back from the auditorium.