Review: Kuka tappoi bambin?
The coldness of the world shines on stage and it is reflected in the life around us
The coldness of the world shines on stage and it is reflected in the life around us. This is the picture painted by the play Who Killed Bambi? on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre. The performance is intertwined around difficult themes and weaves together operating models of deep humanity on the one hand, while at the same time the question of how we treat fellow travellers crosses our minds. That question becomes even stronger, especially when approaching the play’s central conflict, i.e. gang rape.
Pipsa Lonka has dramatised Monika Fagerholm’s novel Who Killed Bambi? and the work for the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre has been directed by Riikka Oksanen.
Detailed presentation information can be found here: https://hkt.fi/esitykset/kuka-tappoi-bambin/
Ticket received.
Who is looking and in which direction?
Right at the beginning of the performance, attention is drawn to the shiny floor material, which reflects light rays from different directions along the stage and auditorium. Mirroring material is often associated with the idea of the mirroring nature of theatre, and the viewer is reminded of their participation in the theatre experience. Mirroring material can also be viewed through the gaze: who is looking and where? Does the play actually look at the audience?
The performance makes the viewer reflect on their own attitude towards the content of the performance. As the play progresses, a harrowing image is built on the stage of a person who wants to bring the truth out, but the people around him sweep things under the rug. The victim becomes the guilty, the guilty becomes the victim.
The play does not preach or try to tell the truth, but depicts several different aspects of humanity. At the same time, the question of which of the characters in the play is looking and in which direction is repeated. Sometimes it’s easier to look away from difficult things, but is it morally right?
At first, it was difficult to get into the performance, but after the first scenes, the performance sucked me in. We had to get used to the language of the performance and find the essential in the allusive staging. In addition, the story, which begins in two different time windows, which is a typical novel device, took some getting used to.
As in many plays dramatised from novels, it is a challenge to embody the multi-layered nature of the narrative on stage, Lonka has succeeded in dramatising the most important twists and turns for the stage in order to keep the tension of the performance intact. This is emphasised by Janne Vasama’s set design, the central element of which is the revolving stage, its reflective surface material and the box rising from the stage, which serves as various venues.
The acting is restrained, and there is no bragging.
The main character of the show, Gusten, leads the story and is seen in two versions at the age of 16 and 26. The younger Gusten is played by Jaakko Hutchings and the older by Pyry Nikkilä. Their paths sometimes cross like a mirror, allowing one to ask the other for advice. How to act in a difficult situation?
The central theme of the play is gang rape, which is not seen on stage. The rape victim is not seen, nor is there any simulated situation in the act itself. However, the scene is so brilliantly constructed that it is still in my mind after days.
The viewer’s imagination is at work when Gusten tells the story of the events on top of an element that has risen to the ceiling of a small stage. The scene is loaded with the entire performance, from which Nikkilä’s interpretation is conveyed to the viewer’s soul.
The second half of the presentation focuses on resolving the situation and what happens in the trial. Annelise, played by Heidi Herala , is the mother of one of the accused. Towards the end of the play, Herala’s harrowing character tears apart the fabric of the performance, and different attitudes to the situation make the audience feel desperate.
The coldness of the world shines on stage and it is reflected in the life around us
Helsinki City Theatre’s Who Killed Bambi? is a coolly cold depiction of the brutality of the world and asks the viewer’s opinion on the subject. The play is not easy or tries to entertain, but brings the world we live in to the stage.