Review: Pekka Töpöhäntä

PEKKA TÖPÖTAIL TEACHES ACCEPTANCE OF DIFFERENCES

No wonder children like Gösta Knutson’s Pekka Töpötail books. They clearly show good and evil, excitement and friendship and a happy ending, as it should be in a good fairy tale.


Under the direction of Anneli Mäkelä, the Helsinki City Theatre has effortlessly staged the stories of Pekka’s arrival in his new hometown and his acquaintance with the charming Maija Milkbeard. True love is in the air as soon as the eyes of the two meet. The song at the end confirms the feelings: “We stay in the magic of our dance, we don’t miss anywhere, we are right there now.”

Very young spectators who are not used to the theatre may fall off the overall plot and the lyrics when you have to wonder how the fortune teller can be so enormously tall, where the smoke on the floor comes from, or fear the fate of Pekka, who is locked up in prison. And will the ship sail back to Finland without Pekka? However, something of the enchantment of fairy tales and theatre will surely remain in the memory; The older ones should enjoy the performance effortlessly.


Sami Uotila Pekka is a good and sincere cat who grows from the shame of being tailless to a new self-esteem during the play. The other cats are also wonderfully characterful, but the highlights are Matti Olavi Ranin’s charming robber Catfish and his stupid and herd-minded servants Pilli and Pulla (Jouko Klemettilä and Sixten Lundberg). “It seemed like the actors were having fun too.

Tiia Louste’s Fat Lissu, in her self-confident character, also tells the basic message of the play: difference is allowed, and prejudiced discrimination will not get you far. It pays to be brave when you have a life worthy of a cat to defend.
The compositions of the songs are by Ilkka Kuusisto, the lyrics by Lars Huldén. Special thanks are due to Sari Salmela’s costumes and the heads of Pinja Ulmanen’s and Tanja Hynninen’s cats. Absolutely great work.