Review: Mörköooppera

Groke it went to the circle… – Marjatta Pokela’s songs delight in children’s opera

“It’s a shame that this is a children’s play,” my grown-up sister pondered after The Groke Opera. He would have liked to praise the play to his friends and sing the play’s songs.

There is undeniably something captivating about the Groke Opera. It is incomprehensible how the appearance of a tirriäinen at the back of the stage is enough to silence the child audience. The children even tell their parents to be quiet when the show starts.

Soon there will be a flock of toddlers on the stage. In other words, they are fairytale creatures that resemble wasps, and the colorful bayonets attached to their backsides are quite funny. It’s especially funny when the wiggle their butts at the same pace.

The costumes of the Tirriäinen costumes have required imagination from the costume designer. They are by no means the only insights of the play. The viewer can spot numerous Marimekko classic fabrics on stage, such as everyboy and cheerful jacket.

However, the most imaginative of all are the actors’ make-ups, which are exaggeratedly powerful. The actors’ upper eyelids and eyebrows are painted light blue or red.

The wigs of the play also deserve their own song. The fluffy hair of the Terns is like dyed wool. The blue, green and red ponytails of schoolchildren are like from another reality.

From a children’s song to an arena gig hit

However, the main star of the play is the Groke, played by Sanna Majuri. It spouts completely incomprehensible language, but despite this, its message is very clear to both children and adults.

In the songs, however, he changes the language to Finnish. The songs in the play are familiar to many of us from Marjatta Pokela’s tunes. I myself have listened to them in my childhood on a c-cassette.

In a way, the songs are a breath of fresh air from the past, but the play’s working group has certainly made a splash, and the songs don’t seem old at all.

For example, the classic song Groke se lähti piiri feels like a hit at a big arena gig. Echo and skipping rope can work wonders.

The music is provided by Musiikkimato, or Lauri Schreck, who is busy in the background. He conjures up sounds from the most imaginative instruments, such as the ukulele combined with small drums.

Sometimes the viewer doesn’t know whether to watch The Groke or the Music Worm playing. Both are of equal interest.

Special thanks are due to the fact that Musiikkimato has his own costume and wig. Unusually, the stage men have also been dressed in grasshopper costumes.

Not smart devices, but presence

Sanna Majuri guides the viewer on the journey from the village of Mökkyrä to Oulu and from there to Helsinki. The play is set in a past world where chalk dust still floats around the teacher, and smart boards have not yet taken over classrooms.

The play is timelessly beautiful. You don’t need smart devices to attract children’s attention, just the presence of actors is enough.

The sets of the Groke Opera are also old-fashioned in a modern way. With lights and shadows, an entire Helsinki with its cathedrals, presidential palaces and railway stations can be created.

You can’t help but admire how the Groke Opera manages to captivate you. Even the youngest spectators follow the play in unremitting silence. Parents don’t even have to explain the events, because Mörö’s universal language opens up to everyone.