Review: Seikkailu jouluyönä
ShedHelsinki gives children and young people a chance to shine – Dancing can also be done in a wheelchair
The young man is eagerly twirling around the stage in his electric wheelchair and smiling broadly at the same time. Jere Tikkanen is completely enchanted by the musical. You can’t help but admire her and the other children’s enthusiasm on the stage of Studio Pasila.
The director of the musical, Marco Bjurström, sums up that children have one or more good reasons not to engage in musical theatre. It can be a disability or a financial reason. In any case, in this musical, they are not obstacles, or even slowdowns.
The musical Adventure on Christmas Night, which is currently being performed, is the third major production in the history of the ShedHelsinki Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to offer all children and young people the opportunity to perform. In the musical, about 130 children and young people will be seen on stage. The youngest of them are 9 years old and the oldest are 19 years old.
The script of the musical is based on the production of ShedHelsinki’s role model, London Chickenshed. London has been running a theatre for decades where the backgrounds of children and young people have not been important.
The musical is made in such a way that there is a suitable role for each child. Not everyone can be the main character, but everyone gets to shine. I would like to praise all children and young people, but unfortunately it is not possible in such a short text.
Pantolandia is full of familiar fairy tale characters
The plot of the play open-mindedly combines classic fairy tales. The story of the children and an aunt who tells them the story of an unlucky Santa Claus serves as a frame story.
Santa Claus leaves three presents for the children, although they are not meant for them. Santa doesn’t notice his mistake and continues his journey to Korvatunturi.
However, according to the aunt’s story, Christmas is in danger if all the presents have not been distributed by midnight. The children are forced to take presents to Pantolandia, which is full of familiar fairy tale characters, author Charles Dickens’ The Miser and H. C. Andersen’s The Snow Queen.
The play represents the English Christmas tradition, panto, which refers to a performance that includes humour, dance and song. Finns haven’t seen much of the collar, but it sinks in well with the audience. The roar of the little bad wolf is especially memorable.
In addition to the children, their teachers, who are professional actors and musicians, will be seen on stage. Particularly excellent characters are Cinderella’s ugly half-sisters Florence (Jyri Numminen) and Jemina (Valtteri Gutev). Men’s dressing as women always makes me laugh, especially the muscular legs of my half-siblings.
A play in two languages
The musical is not content to offer an experience only to Finnish-speaking children. The performance is also available in Finnish Sign Language.
It is exciting to see how expressive sign language is at its best. Signs can even be used to communicate the mood of the songs.
Sign language will not remain just a means of communication for interpreters. The stage will also feature the first deaf actor to graduate from the Theatre Academy, Silva Belghita, and a group of young people who speak sign language.
Sign language becomes a natural part of the story, as all the children and young people perform a joint song at the beginning and end of the story. The chorus is performed both sung and signed.
All in all, the musical Adventure on Christmas Night contains the joy and enthusiasm of the young actors, which has been given a magnificent setting. Director Marco Bjuström is one of the top names in the country, as is conductor Tuomas “Tumppu” Kesälä.