Review: En blick är en blick är en blick
The unpredictable power of the gaze builds a kaleidoscope of hidden desires. The collaboration between Lilla Teatern, the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and Unga Teatern is moving and humorous.
SOMETIMES It is worth going to see the performance of the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki without expecting anything ready, but being open to observing the students’ study journey. That is exactly the kind of performance in En blick är en blick är en blick, directed by Milja Sarkola and Jessica Grabowsky. The visibility of the methods is part of the overall work of art.
En blick är en blick är en blick offers a performance by six acting students in which the question of being watched, one’s own expectations, the expectations of others and increasing one’s self-awareness are approached through three different questions.
How do you think your loved one sees you? How do you think an acquaintance will see you? How do you think a celebrity will see you?
ACTING STUDENTS openly tell the assignment and soon emerge in a completely different way.
The starting point requires honesty, but does not force the performers to present their “authentic selves” in a schematic way. An actor – like a person in general – does not have a single, fixed truth.
The performance is a kaleidoscope of looks and hopes as well as hidden and conscious desires.
From his own inner visions, the witch of the Harry Potter series, Mikael Persbrandt, Gertrude Stein, Jesus, Princess Diana and stand-up comedian Bill Burr are born, among others.
The genders blend in an unemphasized natural way.
The scenes combine Michael Chekhov’s psychophysical technique, which aims to get rid of the ego by, among other things, transforming mental images into physical gestures, and the introspection emphasized by Sarkola and Grabowsky.
TRANSFORMATIONS into self-commenting celebrities are humorous, but at the same time very moving. The texts written by the actors themselves are also interesting in their nakedness, which, however, lacks self-conscious punishment.
In the mother’s monologue, the daughter openly reveals how difficult it is for her mother to accept her, Diana directs her speech directly to the audience that gets a kick out of the tragedy, and Jesus wants to be gentle to everyone, but ends up embarrassing himself. Personal characters are born from the views of other people and different eras.
The characters get to talk to Gertrude Stein’s famous salon. Stein’s performer repeats the famous verse: “A rose is a rose is a rose”, which, in addition to the title of the performance, refers to the problem of naming and a clearly defined identity in general.
THE PERFORMANCE can also be seen as a subtle hint to the problem of identity politics. Nothing is allowed or prohibited in advance, but it does not absolve the performers of responsibility.
Antti Mattila’s set design makes great use of the show spirit with its golden-fringed curtains and as if it tunes in to an unexpectedly intimate and slightly voyeuristic atmosphere. Openness to even the most difficult power relations leads to enormously interesting waters.