At the heart of theatre – Taneli Mäkelä, Marcus Groth and The Man Who Loved Order
In the play The Man Who Loved Order, one man has many uses. Actor Taneli Mäkelä and director Marcus Groth explain how the audience and the actor prepare for a joint theatre game.
Actor Taneli Mäkelä performs alone on the Arena stage, but The Man Who Loved Order is not a one-man story. In addition to Olavi, who loves order, Mäkelä can be seen in supporting roles in the drama comedy, for example, as all the members of the neighbour’s family of four and as a journalist who persistently torments the main character.
This is the first time Mäkelä has been seen in a monologue play.
“I’ve never had any professional long-term goals. I’ve done roles that have been offered, and that’s how this one came about. I quickly noticed that I was in for a nice challenge. The monologue in general is a challenging genre, and there are still a modest fifteen roles to interpret,” Mäkelä laughs.
Director Marcus Groth played the same roles at the Swedish Theatre, where the play A Man Who Is Called Ove had its Finnish premiere in 2017. Groth and Mäkelä, who studied acting at the same time, have not worked together before, but Groth says that directing a fellow actor in a familiar work is rewarding.
“My job is largely about sitting, enjoying and laughing – and then coming up with a few ideas.”
In addition to Mäkelä and Groth, only whisperer Taru Jäntti will participate in the rehearsals. Mäkelä says that training with a close-knit working group is effective.
“In an hour and a half, we can accomplish what can be done with a larger group in a normal four-hour rehearsal. However, practicing is heavier in the same proportion, after a couple of hours you often start beeping. Learning the text also requires strong sitting muscles.”
Northern soul mate
Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s novel En man som heter Ove , published in 2012, tells the story of a man who has reached retirement age and has always carried out things systematically, both in the housing company and in his life in general. At the beginning of the story, he finds himself a nuisance from his new neighbours at the worst possible moment.
The novel was adapted into a film in 2015. The film was nominated at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Make-Up and attracted around 1.7 million Swedes. The play adaptation premiered the same year at the Rival Theatre in Stockholm, and it has already been performed in Norway, Iceland and Finland.
The conquest of Finland, or Olav in Finnish, is well underway, which is no wonder. On the surface, Olavi resembles another character loved by Finns. The man who monitors compliance with the rules and regulations of the housing company and disapproves of the activities of today’s youth is the soulmate of Tuomas Kyrö’s The Devil.
Why do the stories of men who regret their displeasure but are basically kind-hearted appeal to the Finnish audience?
“We Finns are a depressed, complaining people. I also work in therapy, and I have noticed that many Finns depress themselves by suppressing their own emotions and keeping quiet about them. People are more likely to complain about the conditions and other people,” Groth ponders.
“It’s easy to think that the character is just like our neighbour, but not at all like me,” Mäkelä adds.
In Sweden, both as a book, film and play, under the surface of the hugely popular story, there is something very pan-Nordic, perhaps even universal. Mäkelä and Groth say that it is basically a growth story in which a man who has lost everything enters a new phase in his life.
“I was a little nervous about how the Swedish nature of the story could be transferred to the Finnish mentality. While making the book, we have noticed that the story is surprisingly Finnish. Even though Swedes are considered more relaxed, tolerant and cheerful than Finns, we do have something very much in common,” Mäkelä says.
Playing together
According to Groth and Mäkelä , The Man Who Loved Order takes both its creator and the viewer to the basics of theatre making.
“This play is not based on directorial decisions, but on the actor’s storytelling. After all, the director is a rather late invention in theatre history, actors told stories on their own for a long time. As a director, my role is to bring the icing on the cake and give feedback to the actor,” Groth describes.
“This highlights the essence of theatre, the contact between actor and spectator, joint play. In the midst of role changes, we are a bit like small children: yes, this is the aunt who comes from here, and now this is the uncle who is here,” Mäkelä continues.
Before the premiere, both of them have optimistic expectations.
“It’s always a pleasure to come to work. Not that I’m a very hesitant person anyway, but I’ve never been scared of how we’re going to get this done,” Groth says.
“The most rewarding thing is the ever-growing feeling that this works. It’s a well-written thing, and it’s a great feeling to realize that this is what works,” Mäkelä smiles.
Siiri Liitiä