Review: Mörköooppera

A light opera about Mörkö’s arduous journey

Mörkö’s trip to Helsinki can be seen as an allegory for life. HBL’s reviewer Barbro Enckell-Grimm is particularly taken by Sanna Majuri in the title role.

Several generations of Finns have grown up with Marjatta Pokela’s (1925–2002) rhythmic Mörkö songs. I was completely unaware of the existence of a Mörkö opera until now, but in the City Theatre’s production directed by Kimmo Virtanen, Pokela’s songs get both body and spirit. The plot may be a little loose, but it can also be in musical theatre.

Mörkö (Sanna Majuri) lives in northern Finland, near Oulu. In the opera, she takes a road trip to Helsinki and back home. The means of transport she uses – cars, trains and trams – play an important role, and they are also personified by actors. Equally important are the collectives surrounding Mörkö, a group of “Tirriäisiä” who here are newly hatched, butterfly-like, fluttering and eager, a little nervous, insects, schoolchildren and then all adults in various professional roles (teachers, police, president, park lady and uncle, etc.). We don’t have to see the parents.

The trip to Helsinki can be seen as an allegory for life. Mörkö leaves the quiet life in the countryside, his childhood, for a sojourn in Helsinki, where all sorts of things happen that are difficult to comprehend. After a rather funny parody of the adult opera The Magic Flute, she is ready to return home to peace and quiet.

Help and collaboration

This is a play with music and light shows where Alisha Davidow’s costumes and stage design live in fine harmony with Jyrki Karttunen’s calm choreography. The advantages of the City Theatre’s small stage’s round shape have been taken advantage of. The colour scheme is a combination of broken, soft colours and a clear colour scale, a way of dealing with colours that is also repeated in many children’s book illustrations. The music, which is a combination of folk and pop, also forms a unit that moves forward at a reasonable pace. It illustrates both Mörkö’s personality and the story’s message, which emphasizes the importance of collaborating and helping. This is clearly shown in both the opening and closing scenes when the children have to bring apples down from a tree, like Putte in the blueberry forest.

The fact that most of the children’s roles are played by the same cast of actors reinforces the impression of belonging. The fact that the actors manage to smoothly switch roles – especially since the roles are both similar and different – is admirable. The adult roles are more solitary.

I am especially taken by how Majuri portrays Mörkö. She is like a sibling to Pippi Longstocking, but softer and perhaps easier to identify with. She looks lonely and sad, but still sets off and is kind of carried or at least led by the hand by her helpers. Majuri is agile, but can also show a certain angularity when needed. It takes quite a lot from her, but it is possible. An echo of stability and optimism from the year Pokela’s musical saga saw the light of day, 1980?