Review: Turvamies

The Security Guard – Martti Suosalo and Katja Küttner are sovereign on HKT’s Arena stage The Security Man, written and directed by Pasi Lampela, is a show by a wonderful acting duo.

On the Arena stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, you can see the real joy of performing. The actor duo of the comedy Turvamies, Martti Suosalo and Katja Küttner, seem to really enjoy being on stage, and the joy is contagious! To work, a sitcom requires seamless cooperation between actors, and that’s what we see at the Arena.

Humour is also sought by diligently breaking the fourth wall, for example by addressing the lightman. The wonderful and excellent performers make up for the plot fumbling, especially at the end. Personally, I was still waiting for some hook at the end, now the story seemed to run out a bit.

Can the hedonist and the master of self-discipline, who come from different backgrounds, find common ground?

Antti Granqvist (Suosalo), the heir to the rails, is waiting for a doctor, but security guard Mirka Ahonen (Küttner) enters the door. Granqvist’s millionaire father has been blackmailed, and the threat is that if the father does not pay a substantial ransom, his family members may end badly. Despite the bad relationship between father and son, the father has hired a security guard for his son – perhaps also in the hope that the guard will also keep the boy in check.

Ahonen informs Granqvist that he must stay at home now, even if he is about to have a larger-than-life date. Can freedom-loving hedonists and professionals from different backgrounds find common ground?

The story, which takes place within four walls, is well suited to the coronavirus era. Many can certainly identify with either Granqvist’s longing for freedom or Ahonen’s fear of the dangers of the outside world.