Returning to the stage felt relieving and frightening – Interview with Santeri Kinnunen
Santeri Kinnunen and the Helsinki City Theatre have 30 years of shared history behind them.
“Over the years, quite a lot of comic roles have been dropped. I guess it tells about some kind of characteristic, such as a sense of rhythm and a sense of comedy.”
In the Hound of the Baskervilles Kinnunen plays Sherlock Holmes, who has been called the world’s best-known detective figure.
“Everyone has their own, strong images with their pipes and hats, which makes it undeniably challenging,” Kinnunen says. “But in rehearsals, the character gradually shapes and refines, and it has its own exciting angles.”
Although Ken Ludwig’s dramatization is a comedic murder mystery, Sherlock Holmes as a character is not comical. “The characters in the play are seriously made, but the dialogue is fun and the rest of the environment is tuned to be comedic.”
Kinnunen likes the fact that theatre is made on a long-term basis. You get to get to grips with the characters in a different way than in TV and film work, where there is much less rehearsal time and you have to learn the roles quickly.
“In the theatre, you get to analyse and deepen your skills more thoroughly. I have always felt that professional skills can develop in a variety of ways at all levels. Vocally, physically and mentally.”
The live situation is charming
Kinnunen started at the Helsinki City Theatre immediately after graduating from the Theatre Academy, in the autumn of 1991. Her first role was in the children’s musical Reearu, written by Ilpo Tiihonen.
“That’s when I started to get some really nice roles, and that’s just how I stayed here. It would have been stupid to leave,” Kinnunen says. For the newly graduated actor, the City Theatre was the best possible place to develop.
“At the Theatre Academy, you don’t teach acting, but you give a direction to find yourself as an actor. HKT gave me tools for the profession in the early part of my career, and I have had the opportunity to act with great actors,” Kinnunen reminisces. “I’ve accumulated a lot of hard-working years and fond memories.”
Times have changed since the 90s, the people around her have become younger and the roles of the first lover have been played, but one thing has remained the same: the stage fright. “I’d be worried about myself if I wasn’t nervous.”
Kinnunen suspects that he is addicted to the adrenaline rushing in a performance situation. “After a successful performance, you feel euphoric and feel like you’ve run a marathon.”
According to Kinnunen, the spice of the theatre lies in the unpredictability of the live situation. You never know what the audience will be like and how it will react. Anything can happen.
“Live is always fascinating and exciting. Then you strive for your best and don’t just pull with your left hand.”
The break took a toll on him
When the theatres closed last autumn, Kinnunen had just returned to work from a year-long job alternation leave, during which she worked on TV and acted in a well-thought-out play aimed at the deaf.
“In the work of an actor, it is important to be omnivorous and to be able to do and prepare many different genres. I’ve been able to play a commendable number of different roles.”
He had been working for 30 years in a row, only in the summers Kinnunen had taken a vacation. She hadn’t needed a break from acting, and she couldn’t even imagine what a break from the stage would feel like.
“I’m not at all surprised that I’ve always worked. Now I only noticed how idleness affects. It took a toll mentally and physically when I didn’t have a rhythm to work.”
When the rehearsals began, Kinnunen felt relieved but also a little scary to return to the stage. She noticed that she was rusty, and it took some time to get started and get used to the theatre routines.
“Even now, we have a slightly funny delay when we are spinning around and practicing with masks on. But I’m really looking forward to being able to act for the audience with full bellows.”
Text: Ida Henritius