Review: Veljeni Leijonamieli
My Brother Lion’s Heart (Helsinki City Theatre)
Helsinki City Theatre presents a musical play of the same name based on Astrid Lindgren’s classic fairy tale My Brother Lion’s Heart . Lindgren’s text has been dramatized by Alexander Mørk-Eidem and translated, arranged and lyrics written by Rasmus Arikka. The play for the Helsinki City Theatre is directed by Jakob Höglund.
Like the original story, the play is divided into different episodes. The tragic events at the beginning and the description of the hospital are downright poetically beautiful. Later, different places are photographed, bringing out the atmosphere and atmosphere of each place in many ways.
The play has many powerful, touching themes such as friendship, love, trust, community and courage. As befits Lindgren’s style, these are not overemphasized, but they are a natural part of the story. On the other hand, there are equally natural themes such as illness, death, subjugation and betrayal. These are handled in such a way that the seriousness of the matter does come out, but not terribly heavy – but not in a sloppy way either.
The brothers of Leijonamiele, Korppu and Joonatan, are played by Alexander Wendelin and Mikko Kauppila. Wendelin plays a believable role as the little brother Korppu, who admires his older brother. As the story progresses, he also grows quickly when circumstances require it. Korpu’s boisterous joy when she is able to move and play properly after her illness is overwhelming – Wendelin brings this out wonderfully. Joonatan from Kauppila is a brisk and supportive older brother who knows and carries his responsibility. Kauppila combines the role nicely with the suitably childish cheerfulness on the one hand, and concern for the events in Nangijala on the other. The brothers’ mutual love comes out beautifully.
All the actors do a good job in their roles. The script lists all the roles of all the actors in unusually detail, and there are plenty of them! For example, Elena Rekola is Veder, but in addition to that, the narrator, a nurse, a Cherry Valley, a Rose Valley, a branch, the legs of a large Joonatan doll, the legs of a large Korppu doll, the legs and one hand of a small Joonatan doll, the Doctor’s right hand, Joonatan as a dove (handkerchief), the legs of a small Korppu doll, Rimma’s head and voice, Fjalar’s hooves, a dove, the head and voice of a small Veder doll, a soldier and Katla’s left leg. You can have many in it!
There is a lot of playfulness and joy in the performance that children can easily relate to, such as downhill skiing or “riding” on a scooter, hobby horse or cube cushions. I could imagine that at least some of the viewers will relive these moments in their own games!
The set design of My Brother Lionmind offers plenty of room for playfulness. At times, the design of the sets also seems like a nice building game. The set design was designed by Vilma Mattila. A very important part of the stage view are the lights and videos designed by William Iles and Toni Haaranen , which bring the sets to a lot more life. For example, the fire that takes place in the early part of the game is depicted handsomely and even frighteningly.
The costumes for the play are designed by Heidi Wikar and the camouflages by Milja Mensonen. Both are part of the narrative as the characters change depending on where you are. For example, the colourfulness or lack of colour of a person’s costumes can tell a lot.
The music of the play lives nicely with the events, creating and tinting the atmosphere. The compositions and sound design are by Stefan Johansson. The musician is Senni Valtonen, who plays many different instruments and is usually visible, part of the current events or landscape. The choreographies related to the musical numbers have been designed by director Jakob Höglund and the working group, the battle choreographies by Höglund and Ville Seivo. There is little actual dancing and even that made for spontaneous joy, but otherwise a lot of choreographed movement, great examples being a pack of wolves in the moonlight or the movement of branches and the trees built from them.
A very important part of the play are also the puppets, designed by Heini Maaranen. The puppets successfully depict some of the events that might otherwise be too scary to depict. On the other hand, dolls can also be used to create more characters and events in other ways, which creates a charming versatility in expression.
All in all, My Brother the Lion’s Mind is a versatile, adventurous musical play with a lot of good insights and things to see for the audience. Music brings atmospheric liveliness to both joy and sorrow. There is also plenty of humour. Child viewers have been taken into account by making the play suitable for them, but at the same time successfully very watchable for adults as well. This might scare the youngest ones, and the Helsinki City Theatre’s recommended age is 9 years and up.
My brother Leijonamieli tickets sell well, so you should be active in getting them. Play on the website of the Helsinki City Theatre.