Review: Suomen hauskin mies
The Funniest Man in Finland @ Helsinki City Theatre
In the Iso-Mjölö prison camp off the coast of Helsinki, a large group of Red prisoners, such as a group of actors, are languishing. Finland’s funniest man, actor Toivo Parikka (Martti Suosalo) and his companions get a proposal from the prison camp commandant Hjalmar Kalmi (Rauno Ahonen) – laugh, or you’ll be shot. Parikka is given the task of preparing an amusement play that is intended to be performed for dignitaries arriving on the island. When there is a small hope for a better future, you fight for it, even if it is starving and in a prison camp. That’s probably why the cast starts rehearsing. Who wouldn’t want to be saved?
I was really looking forward to this, the story interested me and the Finnish Civil War as a topic as well. By the way, thank you for the program right away, it has a lot of interesting information about prison camps and, for example, theater activities during the Civil War. The tense, fearful, expectant, frustrated, disappointed and hopeful atmosphere that prevails during the war is well expressed in the performance, and through the characters, the viewer also gets (or has to) live the emotions aroused by the hatred between the Reds and the Whites. The set design (Pekka Korpiniitty) and costumes (Sari Salmela) support the 1918 era well.
Martti Suosalo is a brilliant actor, and he is brilliant in this as well. Parikka comes to life in Suosalo’s hands, and the role is built believably. Suosalo knows how to be funny in the right places, but also serious and dark when needed. Heikki Ranta plays a successful and fine role as Jaeger Lieutenant Alfred Nyborg. The breakdown of a young man and his struggle with himself is touchingly acted, and Alfred, who got to know Parika as a child, has to wonder why he is in a situation where he is tasked with executing a person he knows. The beach also plays brilliantly drunk!
Rauno Ahonen’s Hjalmar Kalm is a finely made character, as is Helen Kalm, Hjalmar’s wife, played by Vappu Nalbantoglu. Pekka Huotari Hannula also stayed in my mind, a very good character, played by Huotari with a confident grip. The role of Aulis in the performance I saw was played by Jussi Nikkilä (normally Petrus Kähkönen), who interprets the feelings of a man who takes care of his wife Tyyne (Pihla Pohjolainen) very well. No actor is overshadowed by the others, the casting of the performance has been excellent.
There are funny parts here, the audience laughs at times almost with tears in their eyes, but the next moment their eyes moisten when something inconsolable happens on stage. And even when you laugh, there is a thought in the background that something like this has actually happened at some point. How have the real people behind the play felt? As director Heikki Kujanpää states in the script, “any audience can cope when they know how to deal with their issues through humour. “As the end draws near, humor dies last.” The performance ends with a great picture of the large Finnish flag, under which both prisoners and guards are trapped. It made me think about how much has been fought for and for this country.
I liked this a lot, nicely summarized both happy and sad feelings, the despair aroused by the war and yet a small cautious expectation that everything will change for the better, and the fact that in extreme circumstances even surprising connections can arise between people. Even though the story is dark, it’s still fun to watch and the plot keeps a tight grip. The actors are skilled, the stage is used well, and the black humour is entertaining as human destinies are touched. This is great!