Review: Uusi Eden
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The brilliant musical tells the story of a post-nuclear world where hunger takes precedence over morality and there is little room for culture
Despite its harsh theme, Helsinki City Theatre’s musical New Eden does not sink into gloom, but charms with its freshness.
New Eden is a Finnish musical about the post-nuclear war world, and it’s hard to find fault with the production. That’s how good it is.
The musical tells the story of a world where the worst has already happened and the theatre staff have been left to hold on day by day after the nuclear war.
Power relations have changed. The lewd theatre director has been made to walk, and the director has been a former cleaner (Tiina Peltonen), who is called “the mother”, and the elder of the village (Unto Nuora) is a former ticket inspector.
The group makes a living from the ruins and does not even shy away from human flesh, which is used to make the “Eden’s cauldron”. The clan is replenished when the mother brings pizza driver Petteri (Miiko Toiviainen) to the theatre. This time, the virile newcomer doesn’t end up in a cauldron but as a full member of the group.
Petteri is faced with moral conflicts, because in the New Eden, people are not used to being picky about food and there is little room for culture – and a new crush leads him to it.
Director Juho Mantere brilliantly combines William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar with the plot. That’s what Sonja (Anna-Sofia Tuominen), an actor trainee, tries to offer the group, whose career was about to take off just before the disaster.
Sonja tries to revive a classic play and manages to persuade Petteri to join in. The events in the theatre unfold somewhat in the same way as in Shakespeare’s, but there are also surprises in store.
The apocalyptic musical has enthusiasm, energy and skill in such a way that it does not pale in comparison to the giant musicals brought to Finland from around the world, quite the opposite.
Helsinki’s East Pasila is a barren area, but perfect for this play, as the bunker-like environment is like part of the play. The lines are a funny joke about theatre history all the way to the present moment.
The acting deserves a big round of applause. Niki Rautén, who plays the mother’s child Tuisku, is already starting to be a driving force in HKT’s musicals, but new forces have also been given space. The athletic and cheerful Anna-Sofia Tuominen, who plays Sonja, shines in her role, and the same can be said of Unto Nuora, who plays the oldest in the village, and Tiina Peltonen, who plays the role of the mother.
Keyboardist Henri Lyysaari has composed the music and together with director Mantere the lyrics of the songs, and also leads a four-piece band that plays well. A larger group is not needed for the instruments or the arena – sometimes less is more.
Estimate on the Maaseudun Tuleva website.