Review: Täydellinen lauantai

Jaakko Saariluoma first directed the hilarious comedy in Swedish – Now you can enjoy it in Finnish

How can everything go so impossibly wrong? This is what I was thinking about when I watched and laughed at the play Perfect Saturday on the Arena stage of the Helsinki City Theatre.

The play tells the story of Markus, who has found a record he has been looking for for a long time at a flea market. The album Me, myself and I is a collector’s item and that’s why Markus runs home to enjoy listening to the album. There would be an hour of enjoyable listening ahead.

I just don’t want to get anything out of playing the album. A quiet Saturday is anything but: first the wife bangs the news bomb, the handyman working in the apartment disturbs her with his own problems, the son comes here and there with his crazy talks, the downstairs neighbor complains about the water damage, the secret girlfriend threatens to reveal the relationship, and finally the best friend goes off his final bombshell.

The doors open like in a saloon and the news is pretty wild. Markus endures the news miraculously calmly up to a certain point. His only wish is to listen to the album in peace, and that’s why he tries to get people to go out the door. Most of the news seems to go out of one ear for him.

However, the last piece of news makes the man completely nervous, and after punching the person who told the news in the nose, he throws the popula out the door. Now there is a wonderful peace, now you can enjoy the album or can you?

First in Swedish, now the same comedy in Finnish

Jaakko Saariluoma , who became known as the host of Putous, directed the comedy by French director Florian Zeller last spring at Lilla Teatern. Now the same comedy will be seen in Finnish again, directed by Saariluoma.

The Finnish version has a new cast, with the exception of Sixten Lundberg, who plays the downstairs neighbour.

Pekka Strang , who plays the lead role in this funny farce, fits his role like a glove. His vocal capacity is phenomenal. During a couple of hours, we get to enjoy so many different emotional states that we can’t help but admire it.

It is a skill to speak while pulling the air inwards, the feeling of comic is very strong. Yes, you can also roast at full speed and shout in the role. I also admire the movement of Strang’s hands, they also tell a lot, they are very talkative.

Actor Arttu Kapulainen plays Markus’ son Sebastian. His role as a real fucking rat punk is quite comical, and his last words before leaving the door are moving.

Jouko Klemettilä’s role as a Polish handyman is charming. With all the nonsense, he plays one of the funniest roles.