Review: Juoksuhaudantie

Absolute number one

An equation in which the Finlandia Prize-winning Trench Road is performed on stage by two red-nosed clowns sounds impossible. Otso Kautto’s direction and the actors’ collaboration is not only successful, but exceeds all expectations.

Kari Hotakainen’s acclaimed book focuses on five tragic months in Matti Virtanen’s life. The marriage is broken. There seems to be no going back. Virtanen’s life is obsessed with a yellow front-line veterans’ house that would bring the family together. In Hotakainen’s text, the protagonist continues his furious run through changing landscapes towards inevitable self-destructive action.

Timo Ruuskanen and Tuukka Vasama are incredibly skilled storytellers.

The two of them play all the main characters of the book with their shrill voices, as well as the other characters in the book. Everything is done with exquisite clowning and exuberant caricatures.

The audience laughs from start to finish. The actors improvise, but also make contact with the audience. And even though the performance is funny as anything, it doesn’t lose the novel’s undertone and its deepest depths.

The stage story has an ingenious structure. It is not only the plot twists that are introduced. At the same time, it is a straightforward and titillating analysis of the book itself and its author.

All of the book’s more than 300 pages are told, and more. An absolutely fun and lovable show.