Review: Kultalampi
Kultalampi’s long marriage is full of tenderness, eroticism and also pain points
It is astonishing that the play Kultalampi was written by Ernest Thompson, who was only 27 years old at the time, so insightfully he depicts perhaps the last summer and life of an old married couple, the tender moments they shared and also the moments of bickering.
Kultalampi became a hit off-Broadway play and was made into a blockbuster in 1981. The main roles, as an elderly married couple, were Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, and their daughter was played by Jane Fonda.
The play was last seen at the Helsinki City Theatre in 2000, when Tea Ista and Matti Ranin shone in the lead roles, and their daughter was played by Kristiina Halttu. Now, the undisputed stars of the theatre’s Arena stage are Heidi Herala and Juhani Laitala, and the role of the daughter is played by Emilia Sinisalo.
The play is not just about Norman, who is unequivocally turning 80, losing his memory, even though he forgets things and their connections. In his speeches, the sharp-witted man knows exactly how he knows how to annoy his loved ones, and how he stubbornly holds on to his old habits.
Juhani Laitala’s understated and precise expression touches you to tears. His light-hearted dancing scene is one of the most delicate scenes in the play. Another memorable song is the sensitizing song shared by the family’s daughter and her ex-boyfriend, postman Charlie. It was composed by Kalle Chydenius.
Heidi Herala plays her role as Ethel perceptively, with supple gestures. She is the more active partner in the married couple in the play, and she tries by all means to get her husband going. Once again, it turns out that Heidi Herala knows how to time her work.
The cornerstone of the story is the influence of her daughter’s new husband, the 13-year-old son Billy, on Ethel’s and especially Norman’s summer. The teenage boy (in the premiere Kuura Rossi) comes to life in both, he is the longed-for grandchild they never had.
The story delves perceptively and touchingly into a long marriage and decades of being together, where the other is familiar to the point of annoyance, but also to the point of tenderness. Subtle erotic references are elegantly presented in this interpretation. There are pain points in the difficult relationship between a father and daughter that I’m sure many parents in the audience recognize.
Tuomo Aitta, who is directing at the City Theatre for the first time, does not exaggerate or rush. The play’s duration of more than two and a half hours could be shortened a bit, but what is the rush for? Ethel and Norman are closing their summer cottage in Kultalampi for the winter. A pair of black-throated divers shouts goodbye. Will it be rumored to the old couple next summer as well?