Review: Suomen hauskin mies

Creepy history through laughter

The Reds’ theatre director, who has been sent to a prison camp, is in a tight spot. If a play makes distinguished guests laugh, their lives will be saved.

The play The Funniest Man in Finland, written by Mikko Reitala and Heikki Kujanpää, successfully opens up a piece of the history of the Civil War and the year 1918.

Martti Suosalo plays the main role as the imprisoned director of the Workers’ Theatre, Toivo Parikka. Suosalo is in full swing as an actor.

He makes people laugh, he makes the listeners laugh with his stories. At times, the story is carried in the direction of tragedy.

The performance skilfully balances between fun and creepiness. Live music helps you move from one mood to another.

The conditions on the prison island off the coast of Helsinki are cruel. You are hungry and the sounds of executions can be heard from afar, but humour helps you cope.

Special thanks for the play’s script, which provides a wealth of information about the events of a hundred years ago. After the performance, we must immediately begin to investigate what really happened in the Suomenlinna prison camp.