Review: Ei kertonut katuvansa
Who should regret it?
The Helsinki City Theatre’s large stage has been seen many times, but rarely has its depth and space been used as impressively as in the play No Regrets . The stage opens up to the clear of the north, a sparkling, steaming river, a landscape of a full moon and sometimes so deeply blood-red from war that the pain of the wounded soldiers can be felt all the way to the stands. At the end, the landscape is burnt Rovaniemi, where only chimneys and burnt black tree trunks remain.
Set designer Vilma Mattila, lighting designer Heikki Paasonen, Toni Haaranen , who did the projections, and Markku Ahonen , who is responsible for the pyro effects, deserve the first applause – the stage design is stunningly effective.
How does Tommi Kinnunen’s intense novel about five women who walk on foot from Narvik, Norway, to Rovaniemi succeed as a play? Impressively. After the end of the Lapland War, women who have served in the German army are sent back to Finland with their heads sheared, remnants of their glory, so as if they were carrying. On their journey of hundreds of kilometers, they encounter blame,, and hatred, but also compassion and help.
Susanna Airaksinen does as strong a job as she did in her previous job at The Colonel. There is a lot recognizable in her handiwork, and Johanna Puuperä, who is responsible for the composition and sound design, is once again involved in the collaboration. The brilliant three-piece band occasionally creates the atmosphere of westerns and even Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight on stage.
What about the women, those who, in my opinion, need not repent, those who trusted in Germany’s brotherhood in arms and the promises they received from men? Heidi Herala, Ursula Salo, Aino Seppo, Lumi Aunio and Seidi Haarla give strong performances, and each of them decides to go on a journey to the German army and is explained by impressive flashbacks to the past. Their personal fates and, ultimately, Finland’s fate at the end of the Second World War are intertwined.
Heidi Herala is the primus motor of the group and once again plays one of the finest roles of her career. And it was a pleasure to watch the always great collaboration between him and Jouko Klemettilä again!
Aino Seppo as a drug-addicted nurse is harrowing in her interpretation, and the survival capacity of Ursula Salo’s character is not left unclear. Lumi Aunio is just as fragile as the youth required for the role. Seidi Haarla, who played the lead role in Compartment No. 6 , is now making his debut role at the City Theatre.
Didn’t Say He Regretted tells about the events of almost eighty years ago. The play does not need to underline its topicality, but it is shockingly topical due to the war in Ukraine.