Mannerheim is still versatile

Are you bored already? The Mannerheim Opera in the summer in Ilmajoki, now the Mannerheim play at the Helsinki City Theatre. I can reveal that I don’t get bored.

The image of Mannerheim, his life, work and significance in Finland is constantly gaining new dimensions. If Mannerheim is a white general and a slaughterer of the Reds in your mind, then both works are worth seeing. In Ilmajoki, the opera written by Laila Hirvisaari and EveHietamies will be seen again next summer due to its great success, and now is the time to head to the Helsinki City Theatre.

The play Mannerheim and the German Kiss, written by Juha Vakkuri and directed and dramatised by Kari Heiskanen, does not tell the story of Mannerheim as a private person, but as a man who led Finland during the years of danger. In the play, those years are, above all, the year 1918 and the years of the Continuation War. There is a lot to talk about, but it has been condensed into a presentation that lasts just over two hours.

The play follows like a suspense story, the fast-paced direction does not get stuck in a single scene. The play is also suitable for a history lesson – not a dry one, but one that offers many aha moments. For once, the contemporary images projected on the back wall of the main stage, with their dates and names, work in such a way that the images are not an extra and burdensome addition (as in many performances in different theatres in recent years).

What about the performer of Mannerheim? Asko Sarkola does not make a statue, but he is a determined and competent war leader in his role, right down to the replication. There is only a moment of romance in the play. These are a few scenes between Mannerheim and Kitty Linder, who is known to be his great love. Kirsi Karlenius, who plays Kitty, creates an image of a strong, independent woman in her role. This woman doesn’t stay crying for a man.

Henrik Meinander, professor of history at the University of Helsinki, writes in the play’s script: “What is today’s historical research’s understanding of Mannerheim? Most scholars will probably admit that he had a central role and influence on the history of independent Finland. Still, they do not see him as a flawless actor in all the dramatic twists and turns he experienced during his long career as an officer and statesman.”

It is up to the viewer to decide how much is allowed in war and love.