Review: Humiseva harju

Cities grow and no one knows their place – Brontë’s Humming Ridge is still relevant Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of the Humming Ridge manor, brings home a boy he found on the street, whom he names Heathcliff. Earnshaw’s daughter Catherine falls in love with him, but the family’s cruel upbringing and Heathcliff’s lack of means prevent them from marrying. This results in a couple of generations of tragedy and horror. Clifford’s re-dramatization already brings the shaker of Western literature into this millennium, while faithfully respecting the original work.

While the audience is still waiting for the lights to go out, a ragged and speechless man with a paper cup in his hand begins to move around the stands, begging for money. “It’s young Heathcliff” (Markus Järvenpää), I whisper to my companion, who is not familiar with the book. The Humming Ridge has only been in my life for a year, but it has become a very dear and important work to me, so my expectations for the play are high. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Emily Brontë’s classic book, written in 1847, has spawned dozens of different adaptations over the years, from films to comics and operas, so the burden of freshness required for a new play is heavy. However, the Helsinki City Theatre succeeds well in this. One surprising factor is the well-blended, occasional black situational humour that is well embedded in the play, but it does not water down the gloomy atmosphere too much. It creates a deliciously sharp contrast to the oppressive nature of the plot and characters, which makes the emotions go on a suitable roller coaster.

The caricature of the colonial lord of the manor in Linton (Matti Rasila) becomes apparent as soon as he arrives on stage, which lightens the atmosphere enough to go through the tragedies again for a while. Isabella’s (Sonja Pajunoja), the daughter of Linton’s master, suddenly falls in love with Heathcliff and is a passion dripping with humour. The doctor (Rauno Ahonen), who has rarely appeared in the book, throws laconic statements on stage about the certainty of death while drinking clear drinks. The creepy moods and turmoil inside the head, which are an essential part of the plot, are made visible by the actors’ tearing physical run, jumping and boisterousness in the midst of screaming and a rotating stage. In contrast to the joy experienced in the auditorium, the characters’ somersaults caused groans genuinely worried about possible physical injuries.

The linear progression of time is reinforced by small things that seem to be distortions of space-time at the same time. In the beginning, housekeeper Nelly (Leena Rapola) only has a cleaning rag, which turns into a vacuum cleaner over time. Towards the end, the robot vacuum cleaner already does the work. The songs performed by the characters contain references to modern pop songs; the pianist on stage (Mikko Helenius) rhymes the theme tunes of Kate Bush’s breakthrough song Wuthering Heights in the middle of the action, and during the Brontë siblings, nothing was known about Burana or the benzodiazepams that Hindley (Markku Haussila) sings about after falling into drunkenness. Haussila’s singing number received separate applause from the audience, as it is new in the world of the Humming Ridge in addition to great acting.

Markus Järvenpää succeeds excellently in expressing Heathcliff’s bitterness and desire for revenge with his body – as he holds the bottle and sits on the chair, while Hindley fumbles for more liquor, the planned repayment and contempt can be seen from the mere posture. Oona Airola also skillfully captures the confused, strong but fearful Catherine – which requires a lot from such an iconic character. The appearance of Rauno Ahonen’s doctor on stage, on the other hand, evokes joy time and time again, because the character’s appearance, despite all its gloom, also reflects the cheerful old rock star who has already seen the world, and who, in all its strangeness, reminds me of Tuomari Nurmio in a good way.

“Inherited violence within the family and its extensive impact on the surrounding world and relationships is a timeless theme.”

The story of the humming ridge lives on. It takes place in the 1800s on the misty moors of England and it takes place on the stage of the Helsinki City Theatre in 2020. Inherited violence within the family and its extensive impact on the surrounding world and relationships is a timeless theme. Mr. Earnshaw’s (Matti Olavi Rani) statement that cities are growing and no one knows their place still describes reality.

A humming ridge on the big stage of the Helsinki City Theatre until the end of April. The show lasts about 3 hours, including an intermission.