Boost your relationship from guerrilla training
What happens when two middle-aged couples invite an elite troop trainer to their home to hold a weekend-long guerrilla camp?
“It reveals people’s delusional perceptions of themselves and also of what a spouse’s job is. Do you have to support the other person even in the craziest dreams, or do you sometimes have to set boundaries?” says author Niina Lahtinen .
In the new farce comedy written by Lahtinen and Joonas Nordman , relationships are put to the test, as the training familiar from reality TV tests not only physical fitness, but also the carrying capacity of a relationship.
The play starts when Hanna, disappointed in her husband’s ability to throw herself into it, dreams of participating in the TV show Eliittijoukot. He and his best friend Mari, who lives next door, come up with the idea that the programme’s trainer could come and organise a similar camp in their home. Mari’s husband Joni, who dreams of becoming a professional soldier, is immediately on board, while Hanna’s husband Matti thinks they are going on a cruise to Tallinn.
An enthusiastic wife and a sensible engineer husband
The idea for the play was born a few years ago when Lahtinen was discussing the TV series Special Forces with his sister. He said that he wanted to participate in the program in order to try out various exciting tasks that the candidates have to complete. The thought of a mother of four in her fifties jumping from a helicopter seemed amusing to Lahtinen.
“The laughter didn’t stop when my sister’s husband and I made fun of him, saying that we can go and nudge you down from the diving tower of the outdoor swimming pool with a backpack on our backs,” Lahtinen says.
In his opinion, the setting had the ingredients of a comedy together: an enthusiastic wife who wants to try everything new, and a rational engineer who is cautiously sceptical about the world. Based on this, Lahtinen wrote the first version of the script and asked Nordman to participate in developing it further.
In Lahtinen’s opinion, she and Nordman have a similar comedic dynamic to the play’s main characters, Hanna and Matti, whom they play. “We’re a fun duo because we’re so different. I’m loud and high-energy, while Joonas is small and cynical,” Lahtinen says.
The comedic collaboration between Lahtinen and Nordman has its roots in the sketch series Siskonpeti, which aired on Yle from 2014 to 2017. Anna Dahlman , who directed the series, also directs Home Troops.
According to Lahtinen, some of the scenes in the play are inspired by the sketches of Sister’s Bed .
Maximizing the fun
Home Crowd is set in a detached house area on an unknown trackside district, in the middle of the recognizable, ordinary everyday life of two middle-aged couples. An elite troop trainer who maintains strict military discipline mixes up the situation in one fell swoop.
“Humour is born from the dynamics, misunderstandings and exaggerations of a relationship. Sometimes the action in the camp gets quite overwhelming, and there will also be violence and explosions,” Lahtinen says.
He thinks there is a lot of comedy in the macho world of military training. “Taking yourself so seriously is terribly humorous, but I also laugh at people’s unrealistic notions that they think they can handle it all,” Lahtinen says.
Above all, however, Kotijoukot is a relationship comedy, which Lahtinen thinks is suitable for everyone who is in a relationship – and also for those who have wisely decided to stay away from them.
When making comedy, Lahtinen’s goal is always to maximize the fun. “I hope that the viewers will be able to laugh at themselves. The cycle of laughter must be frequent and hard.”
Text by Ida Henritius.