Review: Everstinna

Heidi Herala throws herself into the role of Colonel without inhibition and with immense professionalism

This is what theatre is like at its best, a story that rolls from one emotional state and situation to another, the tension of which does not let up for a moment. It is the play Colonelina on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, which is brought to a magnificent conclusion by a strong group of women and one man.

The strong group of women refers to Rosa Liksom, the author of the original story, the novel The Colonel, Susanna Airaksinen, the director of the play and its adaptation for the stage, dramaturg Merja Turunen, Johanna Puuperä, who created the composition and sound design, Vilma Mattila , set and costume designer, and Aino Hyttinen, the make-up designer. The only man in the group is lighting designer Vesa Ellilä.

Heidi Herala, who performs the play as a monologue, shines as a diamond. She doesn’t have a weak moment on stage, even though the two-hour performance requires physical and mental strength from the actor. She dances, spins, crawls, she is a maiden who grew up in the wild nature of Lapland, she is the poetry girl of the Colonel, who is 28 years older than herself, an admirer of the poet V.A. Koskenniemi , who was raised in white Finland, and a supporter of Hitler and the Nazi ideology.

The young girl falls in love with the Colonel with a primal frenzy, and the Colonel the girl with the same frenzy. The colonel is not seen on stage, but his strong and deceptively gentle voice is given by the charismatic Santeri Kinnunen.

The story moves from the threat and destruction of the Lapua movement to the war years, when “the Russkies are defeated” and the idea of a Greater Finland is in full force. The Colonel loves parades and parties, but the time for celebrations is over after the war. Ideals are a thing of the past, a sick fantasy planted by a bygone Colonel in his wife of a world ruled by Nazi Germany, in which Jews have no place.

The end of the play should not be revealed, but the Colonel has experienced a lot during her long life. Much too much.

She grows up to be an independent woman who no longer submits to the will of others. Heidi Herala proudly interprets this woman’s trajectory, proudly and with a huge passion for emotion.