Review: Pienet ketut

Little Foxes, Traditional Drama

Money-hungry siblings, a sick banker and a rich investor. These are the starting points for the play Pienet ketut (Little Foxes), written by Lillian Hellman. The play directed by Kari Heiskanen for the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre has been beautifully executed. The play will please a drama lover.

In the play, Hubbard’s siblings Ben (Seppo Halttunen), Oscar (Rauno Ahonen) and Regina (Sari Siikander) have negotiated with wealthy businessman Marshall (Pertti Koivula) about building a new factory. Everyone should invest a certain amount of money in the project. The problem is that siblings don’t have that much money. What if Regina’s banker husband Horace (Risto Kaskilahti) helped the siblings? The problem is that Horace is sick and being treated hundreds of miles away and he hasn’t responded to his wife.

This is where a game with high stakes begins. The siblings don’t shy away from dirty play either.

I’ve never seen this play before, nor the movie made of it in 1941. The play held its grip really well throughout its two-hour duration.

The play is above all a celebration of Sari Siikander. She is a really believable playmaker, tough and ruthless. The casting of the play is very successful.

It was great to see Risto Kaskilahti in a serious role. Most of the time, he has played more or less comical characters. The brothers of Seppo Halttunen and Rauno Aaltonen are real foxes – not to say foxes. Linda Ziliacus plays Oscar’s cultured wife, who, in the whirlwind of life – perhaps due to a not-so-successful marriage – has resorted more and more to the bottle. Zilliacus plays his role very believably. He exudes a certain sensitivity, volatility, submission and disappointment. Ursula Salo’s servant Addie talks a lot at the beginning of the play. Still, his presence is strong. The young cousins Alexandra are played by Elviira Kujala and Leo by Paavo Kääriäinen.

The play, directed by Kari Heiskanen, pays homage to traditional drama. It has not been modernized too much. A great experience.