Review: Hansu ja Pirre – Mieleni minun tekevi
Hansu and Pirre get to the heart of Finnishness in the jubilee play
In the foyer of the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, giggles and happy chatter can be heard. People seem to be in some kind of ecstasy.
He must be a world-class star, to say the least, because every other viewer wants to take a selfie with him or exchange a few words.
The star is, of course, Eija Vilpas, dressed in a red windbreaker, or rather the character Pirre. It’s hard to understand the ecstasy if you haven’t seen the TV series Fakta homma that aired in the 1980s and 90s.
The main stars of the series were Mrs. Hansu and Pirre, i.e. Riitta Havukainen and Eija Vilpas. The duo will climb onto the theatre stage again in honour of Finland’s 100th anniversary.
The subject may sound festive and sublime, but the duo’s approach is very down-to-earth. The Loimaa Darts Club organizes art evenings where the best bits of history are discussed.
Havukainen and Vilpas wisely leave politics and immigration alone. The evenings are dedicated only to laughter.
From the top level to the bottom
The play begins as far back as the birth of the world. Havukainen’s art performance as the chicken that created the world is suitably homespun. You get the feeling of being at an elementary school’s Independence Day party instead of a theater.
That is what Havukainen and Vilpas are aiming for. In principle, the play can be performed in any auditorium. Instead of the Helsinki City Theatre, we could just as well be in the Loimaa multipurpose hall advertised by Hans and Pirre.
The play does not proceed in chronological order, but the play jumps from one era and place to another throughout the play. Sometimes they dance to the waltz of Marjatta and Martti Pokela’s Uncle Hermann, and sometimes they recite poems from the Kalevala.
Once the issues at the top level have been dealt with, we get to the lower end. Hansu and Pirre make many sweet laughs when they talk about urinary incontinence, sex and cutting the hair on the lower end.
There seems to be some magic in the duo’s stories. What started as a giggle at first soon turns into a shimmer. After the best sketches, the applause doesn’t want to stop.
A tribute to a favorite meal
The best part of the play was a performance called popular dance. Havukainen and Vilpas put on jump-overalls and Saarioinen’s caps.
The dance performance is dedicated to the prepared liver casserole, which is popular among Finns. The ladies in their sixties put on a handsome hip-hop show and rap at the same time. The show has a style that many rappers can only envy!
Proper art evenings also include singing together. Hansu and Pirre inspire the audience to sing Jukka Kuoppamäki’s Blue and White.
The song sounds handsome when a couple of hundred people sing the song at the same time. The song evokes the idea that there is still something in common in the midst of disagreements. Everyone knows blue and white.