Review: Yllätysvieras

Many people are all too familiar with the foxy neighbour – in the new comedy, the character steals the lead role

Jari Pehkonen makes expressionlessness a virtue in a successful new play. He plays a neighbor who knows how to be mean without actually being one.

Sometimes it is enjoyable to go to a presentation without double expectations and be pleasantly surprised. And there are actually no less than two surprises: The Surprise Guest succeeds in the difficult genre of humour and the supporting role rises above the others.

The Unfriend, performed at the Helsinki City Theatre, was written by the beloved screenwriter Steven Moffat and was a great success in England.

However, transferring the concept of success to a different culture does not always work. The play delights in the difficulty of the English to say things directly or their ability to use foxes between the lines, while in Finland things tend to be said more directly.

Discretion creates misunderstandings in the story, which are perhaps clung to for too long. Still, the whole thing works.

The greatest credit goes to the cast, of which Jari Pehkonen, who plays the wretched neighbor in a supporting role, surprisingly rises to the top spot.

Who among us hasn’t at some point come across a neighbor who seems nice but slaps subtle nasties with his buckle.

The neighbour disappears in his greyness into the wallpaper and the cushions of the sofa, but he always reminds us of his existence. Pehkonen’s facial expressions and sometimes expressionlessness create comedy at its best.

The actual main roles are played by married couple Peter (Santeri Kinnunen) and Debbie (Vuokko Hovatta), as well as Sanna Saarijärvi, who plays the role of Elsa as a stranger who invades the family.

In recent years, Kinnunen has been in such good shape that successful role work is almost a given. The man “pulls” well again.

The play proceeds smoothly and does not explain unnecessarily.

The ending is almost ingenious.