Review: Prinsessa Ruusunen – Paluu tulevaisuuteen
ShedHelsinki’s Sleeping Beauty brings colour and joy to a slushy winter evening
London’s Chickenshed Theatre has inspired the ShedHelsinki collective, the team behind the Sleeping Beauty – Back to the Future musical theatre. Both theatre productions consist of a large number of different performers, celebrate diversity and are therefore open to e.g. also for young people with disabilities.
On a wintery Wednesday at Studio Pasila, the skills and strengths of both musical theatre professionals and “self-settlers” on the big stage for the first time will meet. You can’t help but admire the end result. I got excited about the production after reading about it on the Helsinki City Theatre website, and the clips I found on Youtube were also convincing!
Sleeping Beauty is probably familiar to everyone as a fairy tale. ShedHelsinki’s musical version mixes youth musicals set in the traditional school world with the story of a fairy tale in a fresh and refreshing way. The end result works and is full of frenzy and joyful sparkle. The story of the musical is based on the original script of the ChickenShed Theatre and it is carried out by the teachers of StepUp School’s Skene Music Theatre School, directed by Marco Bjuström.
At the beginning of the play, the King (Viljami Rosvall) and the Queen (Elina Kervinen) are given a baby girl, to whom her godparents give each other finer and more special skills. However, everything is changed by the evil elf Myrtle (Pauliina Kiuru), who shows up and curses the girl with death. Through various stages faithful to the original story, the teenage Sleeping Beauty (Josefiina Vanamo) finds herself in her own parents’ youth, from 1977.
I liked the visuals, pace and atmosphere of the performance a lot. The atmosphere on stage is at its finest in the crowd scenes, where the team spirit of the creators involved in the production comes to the viewer’s skin, creeping in cold shivers along the heartstrings. The story of the script is also easy to follow and therefore it is also perfect for younger viewers.
The set design is simple but functional in its elegance and supports the impressive and even bold costumes well. Especially the outfits of the school’s teaching staff are memorable for their personality and color saturation.
The nuanced and expressive Josefiina Vanamo as Sleeping Beauty also delights with her singing skills. The other actors also throw themselves wholeheartedly into it, and Pauliina Kiuru, who plays the evil elf Myrtle, seems to be downright feasting on her role!
ShedHelsinki’s performers are united by a passion and frenzy for theatre, which can really be sensed in the end result. The songs, which play a significant role in the performance, are also funny and thoughtfully lyricized. I especially remember the song Aikamatka (Time Travel), which moved the characters of the play from the present to the 70s, which reminisced about the silliness of my own childhood as well as the characteristics of the 90s.
I recommend ShedHelsinki’s play to anyone who needs to cheer up a dark winter evening. I’m looking forward to the collective’s next productions!