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Note: No longer in repertoire!
Cast: Heidi Herala, Pekka Huotari, Seppo Maijala, Vappu Nalbantoglu , Jari Pehkonen
Written and directed by: Viktor Drevitski
Set and costume design: Vladimir Korolev
Movement and choreography: Andrei Art
Lighting design: Teppo Saarinen
Sound design: Eradj Nazimov
A HARROWING AND OUTRAGEOUS MASTERPIECEFive actors stand on stage with their heads bowed. We are in a prison camp and the Sol Theatre in Solovetsky is about to start its performance. Just over an hour and a half takes the viewer into a turmoil of emotions. At times, I laugh with tears in my eyes at the outrageously absurd black humour of the performance, after a while I hold my breath as the prisoners reveal their stories one after the other. Why did they end up in the camp? The lovely Heidi Herala is the star of the evening. Herala interprets St. Petersburg actress Tatjana Homutova with breathtaking skill. He makes the viewer stand with him on a knife edge. He laughs and cries. In the best scenes at the same time. Herala has the finest scene of the evening with her real-life husband, Seppo Maijala as Sergei Armanov, in which the viewer finds out why Tatyana has ended up in the camp. Maijala amazes the viewer with her wonderful ability to transform, which easily washes Jari Pehkonen and Pekka Huotari, for example.
Read moreWHEN THE PERFORMING ARTS SEE BEYOND ITS NOSEThe stage work of Ukrainian-born director and actor Viktor Drevitsky , who has lived in Finland for more than two decades, is startling. It’s like dancing on the edge of the grave. The actors of the Helsinki City Theatre give their voices and all their expressive power to their colleagues who have been subjected to political persecution across the eastern border. And with what kind of narrative. With comedy, escaping into play, drifting into dreams, smiling at the theatre.The story bounces loosely, takes a sounding board from history and literature, draws links with time jumps and brightens lenses. The improvisation-like method is a good thing of luck when it comes to a theatrical performance created in prison.But the same looseness unfortunately eats away at the full reception of the performance. It is best opened up to literature lovers, especially those who know their Gogol. However, the common thread is social criticism, which reaches every viewer.
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