Diamond theatre play in Hakaniemi in the 1950s
The comedy about a bank robbery tells the story of a gang of robbers who are striving for the ultimate bank robbery, but of course nothing goes according to plan.
Director Samuel Harjanne describes the play as a close-miss comedy: misunderstandings follow one another and people are constantly in trouble because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“The characters, written with a colourful brush, are sometimes in exuberantly difficult situations, from which they try to blurt themselves out, rarely succeeding,” Harjanne says.
There are many moments in the performance that test not only the survival of the characters – and the actors – but also the limits of technical execution. On stage, there are plenty of visual tricks and inventive solutions.
“For example, the bank robbery will be done in ninja costumes along wires in the Mission Impossible style, so it requires a lot of theatrical technique and physical flexibility from the actors,” Harjanne describes.
Some scenes are executed from an unusual perspective, which requires careful set design and solutions that challenge gravity. The size of the large stage brings its own challenge, as farces often require you to get from one place to another quickly.
“With set designer Jani Uljas, we have managed to reduce the scale in places so that we are not in a giant open-plan office all the time, but in tighter stage images,” Harjanne explains.
The Comedy About a Bank Robbery is a farcical comedy written by British writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, which premiered in London’s West End in 2016. The performance quickly became an audience success and ran in the repertoire continuously for four years.
The trio of writers are known for their group The Mischief Theatre. Their breakthrough was The Play That Goes Wrong, which has become a hit around the world, and has also been seen at the Helsinki City Theatre.
Harjanne became acquainted with the group’s plays while studying to become a musical director at the Guildford School of Acting. He says that he has seen The Play That Goes Wrong in London no less than nine times and since then also the comedy about the bank robbery.
“The humour sunk into me immediately. The comedy about a bank robbery made me laugh out loud at several points already when I was reading the script.”
The Comedy of a Bank Robbery is Harjanne’s first spoken word play direction.
“The genre of farce is as rhythmic as musical theatre. The slamming of doors, turns and lines must be as carefully orchestrated as musicals,” Harjanne says.
Villains, crooks and comedy
In the Helsinki City Theatre’s version of The Comedy of a Bank Robbery, it has been transferred from Minnesota’s City Bank to Hakaniemi Osakepankki. According to Harjanne, it is a Class B bank that is desperately trying to protect the giant diamond stored in its vault.
“The proper bank robbery world of the 50s is perhaps best known through American films and other entertainment, but there could be similar villains and crooks in Finland as well. I think it’s nice to do that kind of tongue-in-cheek epoch,” Harjanne says.
Even though it is the 1950s on stage, the play’s perspective is completely modern.
“Farces may be associated with prejudices that young women in scantily clad clothes run after old men, but this one has a very fresh approach and the settings seen in older farces have been turned upside down,” Harjanne says.
According to him, The Comedy of a Bank Robbery is an intelligently written work in which all the actors get to play several different roles.
“Some people have to bend to quite acrobatic performances, but I believe that they will accept the challenges with open arms. We have a great line-up of the City Theatre’s comedy veterans and with them Linnea Leino and Samuel Kujala, who are great, energetic, young artists,” Harjanne says.
In his opinion, The Comedy of a Bank Robbery offers, above all, an opportunity to forget about everyday worries for a few hours. “This is purely a work created to temporarily improve the quality of life.”
Text by Ida Henritius.