Love for puppetry at first sight – Whatever Love Means was a mocking adult game with large foam-headed puppets – The list of sociological source works in the script is as long as a gorilla’s hairy arm
After the performance, the answer seemed obvious. It could only be answered with a new question. Why isn’t puppet theatre made for adults more often? Whatever Love Means by Royal Cotton Candy was a gentle and funny satire of the expectations and tricks that popular culture has awakened in us to treat these ailments caused by the longing for romance.
A consulting firm of six dolls aimed to use a multidisciplinary method to improve the emotional coldness of Hertta, who had applied for a client. In Hertta’s opinion, love doesn’t feel like anything. Invoicing at this consulting firm worked even when its number one therapist fell asleep in the middle of a therapy session.
The show gets its name from Prince Charles‘ statement that caused a small-scale scandal. When Charles and Diana Spencer were engaged and the couple were asked in a television interview if they were in love? “Of course!”, Diana replied. Charles, on the other hand, supplemented his future wife’s answer with a reservation: “Whatever in love means.”
King Charles III of England came to the presentation as a huge talking head to explain his statement. Although the large talking head represented the aesthetics of television in the scene, the question was literally fed to this character in the short language used on social media and the answer also became visible letter by letter.
Charles was the semantic genius of the creators. For decades, the British royals have acted as a kind of human bridge between the world of illusion created by popular culture and the real world. The difference between reality and fairy tale became concrete for all of us at the latest when the divorced Diana died in a car accident.
According to the creators, puppet theatre of this size has never been made in Finland before. The aesthetics of the characters and the comedy of the story reminded me of the English The Muppet Show, which was also broadcast on Finnish television in the 70s. A key source of inspiration for the creators has been the Swedish comic artist Liv Strömquist and her latest album Pelisalissa.
With factory settings, romantic and larger-than-life love is made in Hollywood. I didn’t recognize all the scenes and characters. According to the script, scenes were picked from films such as Titanic, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman and Sex and the City. The image of factory settings was created by the fact that the words love and romance emerged literally in neon colors, shaped from letters cut out of foam plastic.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the therapist fell asleep and the flame of love, not to mention the blaze, had not yet ignited in Hertta’s heart.
Whatever Love Means is, as is typical of theatre, and in this case very characteristic, art made by the community. According to the script, the original idea of the performance was developed by puppeteers Merja Pöyhönen and Riina Tikkanen together with lighting designer and set designer Essi Santala. They have got the right dream team for the implementation.
Maria Säkön In an interview written for Helsingin Sanomat, Santala tells how the material used in the performance, foam plastic, began to carry the story. I’m not very familiar with puppetry, but I can imagine how the puppets first take shape during the manufacturing phase and how they begin to develop their own personality and will, as it were.
I believe that for the actors in the production, performing with large puppets has been an enlightening experience. The costume has its own individual habitus, character and will. Internalizing the character is certainly in a class of its own, as you have been able to talk to this character face to face without a mirror.
The technology used also gave the hand puppets great mobility. As a director, Pöyhönen also knew how to make the most of the vast spaces offered by Studio Pasila’s stage. The speed of the puppets, which were larger than their performers, was quite fidgety at times.
According to screenwriter Taija Helminen, the approach to the story was found in the thinking of the French sociologist and cultural anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu. At least there was a scene in the Bourdieuta show where foam-headed experts told us that the story of a larger-than-life love between an upper-class girl and a lower-class boy cannot be realized in the real world. The screenwriter’s solid sociological approach is also evidenced by the information on the sources of the script that can be found on the City Theatre’s website within a few clicks.
What happens to Herta, who is looking for love and longing for a burning passion in the story, in the clutches of consultants? Very well and according to all the rules of the romantic story tradition. As a viewing experience, Whatever Love Means was a mocking adult game with large puppets, which is exactly what theatre should be.
The charming foam heads will perform on the stage of the Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance at Studio Pasila. There are only eight performances, so it’s worth grabbing this delicacy right away.
The stage for the contemporary performance began operating in 2021. At that time, the Helsinki City Theatre gave the facilities and technology to independent operators. Serious theatre enthusiasts should follow the offerings of the Contemporary Performance stage. Masi TiitanDilemma, which premiered on the stage of a contemporary performance, was selected for the main programme of the Tampere Theatre Festival this year