Review: Stalinin suloinen ruoska
An interesting Stalin’s sweet whip Although
theatres have closed their doors due to the coronavirus, we are shifting our focus to next autumn’s performance season.
In recent years, Kari Heiskanen has written and directed many interesting plays focusing on Finnish history at the Helsinki City Theatre. The latest version of Stalin’s Sweet Whip premiered on 5 March 2020. The play was only performed a few times before the coronavirus closed its doors. Fortunately, Stalin’s Sweet Whip will continue in next autumn’s programme, as this play is worth seeing.
The play begins in 1944, which means that the Continuation War has ended, and the Soviet Control Commission, led by Colonel General Andrei Zdanov (Sixten Lundberg), has settled in the Hotel Torni in Helsinki. Zdanov is irritated when he has ended up in a small, dreary Helsinki. Adding to the frustration is the fact that the Soviet soldiers had not succeeded in bombing Helsinki sufficiently – and on top of that, the soldiers have even bombed their own embassy. Zdanov aims for straightforward action to get back to Moscow and close to Stalin – after all, he was one of Stalin’s favourites. However, the actions of Finnish politicians do not make the task any easier. Zdanov forces Paasikivi (Pekka Huotari) to an unpleasant task: to severely punish war criminals named by the Soviets. Paasikivi and Kekkonen are trying to invoke the law. And as we know, it was in vain.
The play focuses on the so-called. years of danger and the Soviet perspective.
The farcical play features Finnish politicians from Yrjö Leinonen (Risto Kaskilahti) to Kekkonen (Petja Lähde) and Mannerheim (Joachim Wigelius).
In addition to Sixten Lundberg, who plays the lead role, I would like to highlight Jari Pehkonen, who plays Orlov, the political advisor of the Control Commission, and Merja Larivaara, who has a dual role as Hertta Kuusinen and the woman of the separate department. Above all, Larivaara is amazing in the role of a woman in a separate ward. If you go to see, follow Larivaara’s small, almost imperceptible gestures and outfit (costume design by Marjatta Nissinen). It is also worth paying attention to Aino Seppo’s role as Tamara Liukkonen, especially the drunken scene.
All in all, Stalin’s Sweet Whip is an interesting and well-made play that can be recommended.
Other autumn performances at the Helsinki City Theatre
My Day as a Groundhog is a romantic musical comedy. It will premiere at the Helsinki City Theatre at the end of August.
Did you see the comedy Bottle of Cavaa back in the day? In the autumn, it will be continued with the Second Bottle of Cava performance. The premiere is in September.
Red Orphans tells the story of the life of a family living on the Second Line. This play is described as touching. The premiere is at the beginning of September.
The play Dinner Among Friends has won the Pulizer Prize and has also been made into a film. In the autumn, the premiere of this play will take place in mid-September.
And then there’s the bonus: the super-popular musical The Little Mermaid will continue in the City Theatre’s repertoire in the autumn.
So let’s not despair, but let’s already think about next autumn and all the fun things we can experience then.