Review: Hinta

The price is such a good play that I can’t even think of a title

It is hard to believe that Pulitzer Prize winner Arthur Miller’s (1915-2005) play The Price (1968) is Paavo Westerberg’s debut production at the Helsinki City Theatre. The late hour is strange, considering that Westerberg has been in the caste of Finland’s top theatre makers for a long time.

Miller is best known for his classic The Death of a Merchant. Almost 20 years after that, Miller wrote The Price, which has received surprisingly little attention considering how great a text it is. By the way, I think it’s strange that the play premiered in Finland in the same year as on Broadway – Edvin Laine directed it freshly for the Finnish National Theatre in 1968.

So how did Westerberg manage to interpret The Price 50 years later? The tickets for the performance will be fought for tooth gritted, as it is exceptionally sharp and fine – a significant performance of our time. The price simply has to be seen.

It is mainly about family relationships and money. In fact, it is astonishing how topical this three-hour talk play criticizing capitalism is. Furniture dealer Solomon is trying, as is his profession, to get the inheritance of police officer Victor and doctor Walter’s parents at the lowest possible price – because no one wants old, high-quality and durable furniture, because it is eternal. Too practical, you can’t get rid of them.

The throwaway culture and shopping made a breakthrough. Capitalism managed to break through waste into people’s subconscious, as part of our culture and everyday life. Spending increases happiness. Well today, isn’t it?

In addition to money, the play deals with family relationships and the different paths that a person can choose. Sacrifices and their impact on one’s own life and the lives of others. Why haven’t brothers Victor and Walter been in touch for 16 years? Why does one live comfortably and the other has to struggle with his wife? What do the choices ultimately mean?

Westerberg is a phenomenal character director, and he has a phenomenal cast: trusted actor Eero Aho, Esko Salminen, Santeri Kinnunen and Aino Seppo. Aho, Kinnunen, Salminen and Seppo offer a three-hour lesson on what acting is.

Many criticized spoken word plays in general, saying that “talking heads there just talk”. It has been a curse word for others in my own theatre history, too. Talking head. I have always disagreed. Spoken word plays often have the most substance. The price could just as well have been written by Westerberg himself, as his own play texts are unbeatable.

And when it comes to talking heads, running, sweating and cracking is not an art of acting. It can be that, but it is not enough. You have to be credible. You have to know how to act. If this were a play made of the reality series The Incitement Maniac, you could say that you see Reka, Reka, Reka and Reka on stage – and everyone shows how the trick is done.

Kinnunen makes one of the finest performances of his career. I’m glad that he won’t be seen in the farce again. Drama brings out so many new sides of the actors. And I’ve seen him in drama before – this equation works, but you get to enjoy it too rarely.

Aho is one of Finland’s best actors, and he won’t disappoint this time either. In the role of Esther, Seppo brings much-needed depth and perspective to the play, without which Price would possibly be very flimsy.

Salminen. Salminen. Salminen. I don’t know how he will be able to surpass himself at this point in his distinguished career. When Salminen arrives on stage, the atmosphere is electrified to completely new spheres. His Solomon brings lightness and so much laughter to the play. None of us want oranges. (The scene was perhaps the funniest I’ve ever seen on stage.)

I also have to take into account the very successful set and costume design (Antti Mattila), as well as the lighting (Kalle Ropponen, who also made the wonderful lights for Turku’s Last Ship). Rarely have I seen such a magnificent lighting master as Markus Schaffter. It goes without saying that Essi Huovila, who works as a dresser, is breathtakingly gorgeous.

The price program and the entire production also look very good – believable, just like in London. More of this. Theatre commercials and scripts don’t have to look like plastic, artificial and ugly font tears, they can also be stylish and inviting.

Four stars will be seen on stage. However, five from experience. Drama at its best.