Review: Pieni merenneito

The Little Mermaid is the perfect fairy tale

A fairy tale, the realization of dreams and the victory of good, that is what we need in this chaotic, depressing time in many ways.

The Helsinki City Theatre now offers a fairy tale that if I had stars to give, I would give The Little Mermaid five stars and pluses on top. The theatre’s greatest musical production of all time, technically and visually, is not only spectacular on the outside – and that is what it is with its set design, video projections, lighting design and costumes. The viewer literally feels like they are floating in the underwater world.

Samuel Harjanne’s direction finds the deepest message of The Mermaid, the one that H.C. Andersen wrote in the classic fairy tale as early as 1836: the ability to accept difference, the young person’s struggle against authority, the possibility of realizing the impossible and the victory of good over evil.

It is no coincidence that Samuel Harjanne’s direction of the musical Kinky Boots at the City Theatre last year was a hit, as was Billy Elliot, which he directed for the Tampere Workers’ Theatre in the same year. The young instructor has a deep vision and the ability to get the best out of their working groups.

Harjanne has heart and emotion involved in his work, not just skill.

The young main stars of The Little Mermaid, Sonja Pajunoja and Martti Manninen , are excellent in their roles, and Pajunoja’s spectacular acrobatics in the air are literally stunning.

Even so, Sanna Saarijärvi, who plays the octopus Ursula, rises above the rest. He receives the biggest applause from both the child and adult audiences.

It is wonderful to see how Saarijärvi, who has had a long career at the Helsinki City Theatre, now interprets one of his most touching roles, as a tough and cruel villain.