Review: Poika ja Tähti

The Boy and the Star

Helsinki City Theatre has made a real children’s cultural act with its play The Boy and the Star. I’ve never seen such a wonderful ensemble!

Director Peter Engkvist , who has gained fame in his home country and around the world, has written and directed Barbro Lindgren’s book with such intensity that you can almost watch the play with bated breath. Add to that Ulf Eriksson’s wonderful, brain-wrenching music and the skilful acting of Sami Uotila and Reetta Honkakoski , and you get a theatre experience like no other!

The young actors’ empathy and adaptability to many different characters is incredible. In his direction, Engkvist emphasises the importance of emotions and elevated language. He is used to expressing everything bodily, they say. And that’s what Uotila and Honkakoski are doing.

It has been said of Engkvist that his stories convey the most painful topics of human life, but he is able to tell his big stories in small and modest ways. Engkvist himself says that life is simple and fun. From these elements, the play The Boy and the Star is built into a great adventure into the world of imagination. It is a story of life and death, a story about the meaning of two stars, the power of friendship and the courage and resourcefulness of a little horse.

“I like to think that this play gives viewers of all ages hope – hope for ourselves as we once were before everyday life began to oppress us with all its constraints,” says the director.