Review: Pieni merenneito

Helsinki City Theatre: The Little Mermaid

A week ago, a friend and I went to see a new, wonderful performance at the Helsinki City Theatre (later HKT): The Little Mermaid. Tickets to the performance were given to us as cooperation tickets, a big thank you for that. I had to give myself time to digest what I had seen, it was so wonderful that now I can only write. Basically, the story is probably familiar to many, so I won’t go into the plot or go into it here, but I’ll focus more on what I saw on stage.

HKT’s version of The Little Mermaid was directed by Samuel Harjanne, who has already shown his skills with Kinky Boots, among other things. The translation was done by Reita Lounatvuori and Hanna Kaila (songs), and I would say that it was a great success. I don’t know what I would praise more, the successful direction and the team that built the performance, or the work of the actors. Each author has had their own contribution to this, and this work has been born from all of them.

The following actors will be seen in the roles:
Ariel: Sonja Pajunoja
Prince Erik: Martti Manninen
King Triton: Mikko Vihma
Erik’s guardian Yrjö: Matti Olavi Ranin
Scoot Seagull: Tuukka Leppänen
Splash Fish: Lenni Kallela (in the performance we saw), Samuel Vihma, Valo Eklund, Alek Pèrez Lahtinen
Sebastian Crab: Tero Koponen
Ursula: Sanna Saarijärvi (in the performance we saw, Ursula was played by Annamaria Karhulahti)
Crook: Paavo Kääriäinen
Earthworm: Antti Timonen

I thought I had already seen the best theatre you can see, but after experiencing HKT’s The Little Mermaid, I knew I was wrong. Costumes, set design, translation.. directing, acting, background work.. everything! The whole thing was absolutely dizzying, with a big WOW effect from the beginning.
How can you create the kind of underwater world on the stage of the theatre that it was during the performance (or I mean, I know how, but let the magic of the theatre remain, and not tell everything). This even beat the musicals seen in London with their versatility and modernity. Of course, the fact that this is one of those Disney stories of my own generation also contributes to the feeling.

I could mention each actor on stage and the thing separately, but no one would bother to read this at the time, so I’ll mention a few of my own favorites here:
I praise Ursula the most. The execution was absolutely brilliant, at some points downright frightening. The best thing was Ursula’s verbal contribution, as well as how this character had been brought into modern times with its “bodiläng jokes” and all. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Tentacle work is also a full ten.
Another word that made me smile a lot in the performance, for which I had to ask for help a bit, was the blizzard rust used by Skuutti. That must be remembered in the future. In addition, Pärsky must be mentioned. It’s so funny, and Splash’s crush on Ariel is something really sweet.
The Stay in the Depths scene was perhaps the best of all. All the seafood on the stage, both small and large. Stingray, oops! And the atmosphere was exactly what I like the most: colors, fun, a lot of dancing and singing.

I always like to think about and look for themes in the presentations, and there seemed to be enough of them here as well. Searching for and achieving one’s own identity, accepting the choices of others, love, courage to do things as one feels is right. And these didn’t just show “theme per character”, but several themes fit more than one character. Themes that are relevant to the present day, even though the story behind it is already 182 years old.

I can only wholeheartedly recommend this performance as well, and I hope that I will be able to see it again myself. Thank you HKT.