Review: Kirsikkatarha

Lauri Maijala’s Cherry Orchard is a masterful and coherent experience

I’ve seen Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard twice before. The first time at the Theatre Vanha Juko in Lahti in 2010 and the second time at the National Theatre in 2013. The latter is one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen, the first one didn’t leave much of a memory.

The text of the play is also familiar. Still, I have always ranked The Cherry Orchard (or Cherry Orchard, depending on the Finnish translation) as Chekhov’s most boring play. So the third time is true.

I wanted to see the Helsinki City Theatre’s interpretation for several reasons. The graphic look of the advertising is perhaps the finest I’ve seen from the City Theatre. The casting is tough. I’ve heard downright praise for the performance. And, of course, Lauri Maijala. In 2010, Maijala also performed a guest performance at Teatteri Vanha Juko called BB-Vanja-eno, which is one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.

There is only one performance left of the City Theatre’s The Cherry Orchard, and I want to appeal to all readers: book your tickets as soon as possible. Maijala’s Cherry Orchard is downright masterful, integrated, touching and successful in every way.

The Cherry Orchard is about ownership, money, family and inheritance, love, loss – really everything. The carefree Ranevskaya and her close circle avoid reality and the way of life are expensive. You also have to pay a high price for cordiality. Giving up is one of the hardest things a person has to do.

Today, you can read a lot about it from the point of view of capitalism: everything beautiful and meaningful is chopped up because you have to get money. In order to preserve something, it must be destroyed. Capitalism does not bow down to history or beauty, and it has no master. Capitalism is its own master, ruthless and inhumane.

Heidi Herala gives the role of her life as Ranevskaya, and actually one of the best performances I’ve seen in recent years. If Tony or Olivier awards were awarded in Finland, Herala would receive this year’s trophy.

It was also refreshing to see Eero Saarinen and Jouko Klemettilä in proper roles for once. However, they would still be needed in even bigger roles and possibly outside their own comfort zone. It is sad that such brilliant actors as Herala, Saarinen and Klemettilä are punished with mediocre farces and “lifelike” entertainment.

Emilia Sinisalo’s Varja was interesting, as was Chike Ohanwe’s Lopah. At times, however, Seppo Maijala stole the show with his brilliant interpretation of Firs, which is a well-deserved tribute to the master as a role.

The visionary visuals also deserve praise in every way: Janne Vasama’s set design, Tiina Kaukanen’s costume design, and Mika Ijäs’ lighting created a magnificent and natural milieu in Maijala’s Cherry Orchard. A great performance.

And you can’t talk about a performance without its brilliant music, composed by Lauri Porra and musicized by one of the two ensembles, certainly equally good.

This is a breath of fresh air to the Helsinki City Theatre’s repertoire. Classics are always worth performing, but not just because you want to make a classic. You have to have an ironclad vision and a reason to do it. Maijala had a reason.