Review: Ei kertonut katuvansa
No regrets – Wartime women refuse to be ashamed at the Helsinki City Theatre – Tommi Kinnunen’s best-selling work is also convincing on stage
Five women in the wilderness of Lapland. Mines and burnt villages, but above all, the tenacity and courage of women who have found themselves in a tough place. Tommi Kinnunen’s Ei kerto regretta bends to be a fine play at the Helsinki City Theatre in which all aspects work.
Tommi Kinnunen Based on the Finlandia-nominated book, Ei kertonut regretnsa (WSOY) is a great story about a war topic that has not been talked about much in Finland: the stigma of Finnish women who worked for the Germans after the end of their brotherhood in arms. In general, it is about time that war stories move from the experiences of men at the front from many angles to women and their experiences everywhere else than with a rifle, as the runners of life and society, and to the role of scapegoats that were often offered to them. In the words of Tommi Kinnunen, while Finnish men who fought alongside Nazi Germany were given a heritage association, the role of women was a disgrace.
The version, dramatised and directed by Susanna Airaksinen, brings the book’s strong five women to the Main Stage of the Helsinki City Theatre. And in what way! The cast has a wonderful spectrum from veterans such as Heidi Herala, Aino Seppo and Jouko Klemettilä to a new group, such as Seidi Haarla from the movie Compartment No. 6.
The story begins in Norway. During the Continuation War, a group of Finnish women travelled there to work for the Germans. When Nazi Germany loses and the Germans retreat, they want to take the women into pre-trial detention. However, a friendly bus driver frees them and sends the women on a hike of more than 600 kilometres towards Rovaniemi.
In addition to the length of the trip, the journey is also challenged by the fact that with the Lapland War, Finns are taking over hatred towards the Germans and also these women who have been called by the Germans, so the help of others cannot be unreservedly trusted.
The core group of five women Irene (Herala), Aili (Seppo), Veera (Ursula Salo), Siiri (Haarla) and Katri (Lumi Aunio) who are going on a long march convey well the adaptability and perseverance that were needed in Finland during the war years and after the wars.
It is rare to see such diverse group dynamics and communication on stage, which only takes place between women. A group of people from quite different backgrounds are not friends with each other, but they still need to find ways to work together in order to get there. Despite the fact that they have left home for a reason, and they are nervous about returning.
It is a testament to the skills of the actors and the director that each woman’s character traits can already be seen in the way they move, from the stocky Siiri to the unapologetic Veera and the fussy apologetic Irene, who has fled a cold marriage and finds herself and her own strength only at the end of the play. Heidi Herala’s last scene and leaving the stage is the finest exit to a moment. Thanks to the exquisite set design, the actors literally walk across the map.
The women’s trek through the wilderness is perhaps surprisingly well twisted into stage form. Music is one factor in this, and another is inventive staging and the possibilities offered by the multi-directional stage of the Main Stage in general. In the middle of the trudge, a memory from home literally emerges, only to sink down again as the thoughts move to the present.
Set designer Vilma Mattila has used maps and topography as her inspiration, which can be seen in the shapes of the stage. The actors really climb up and down according to the height curves of the map, and the sum of it is an understanding of the length of their journey. Details, such as the ruins of burnt houses and sticking out trees that move nimbly on stage, take the viewer to either the city or the wilderness in an instant.
The feeling of Lapland is brought by the Northern Lights and the full moon that illuminates brightly out of the reach of the city lights. Lighting designer Heikki Paasonen plays with the shadows and silhouettes of the figures created by the red glow of burnt Lapland.
Music in particular should be highlighted. Composer and sound designer Johanna Puuperä and the trio Eva & The Desert Stars (Koivusalo, Vesa Anttila and Sami Koskela), skippered by Eeva Koivusalo, bring a perhaps a little surprising but very suitable soundscape that moves from surf guitars to Agents’ wire.
It’s refreshing that music plays such a big part and that it’s so different from what we’re used to in period drama. The music of the play contributes to the image of the women’s never-ending journey in the barren nature of Lapland in the middle of nowhere and brings connections to the world of westerns in a different kind of wilderness across the ocean.