Review: Aurinko ja minä

THE LAST RAYS OF THE SUN

What confidence, relaxation and joy of doing!
Already at the re-premiere of the play Kvartetti, Kyllikki Forssell was radiant: she had been away from the stage for ten months, longer than ever in her career, and she was beaming with the happiness of returning home. He had a new softness and warmth – and yet all the former sharpness and precision were still there.

John Murrell’s play The Sun and Me seemed like an unlucky child, the premiere was postponed a couple of times. It took Forssell three months to recover from the hip fracture.
When the premiere finally arrived, the performance was exceptionally ready. Forssell is the great diva of French theatre Sarah Bernhardt from a hundred years ago. Bernhardt spends his last summer in Brittany in 1922 with his secretary Georges Pito – Sarah’s biography should be completed.

Santeri Kinnunen is Pitou, who watches, supervises, and acts out people from Bernhardt’s long life.
Forssell’s age stretches on stage at 50 years. She glows as a passionate woman who worships men, whose body screams love games once more. And as soon as pain and fatigue strike, his face is as bare as a death mask.
The lighting, which is the responsibility of Juhani Leppänen, is stunning: Forssell’s beloved ramp lights are used, which show the thoughts of the eyes.
At first, it feels like Kinnunen is parodying a man who looks like a silly goat. It takes a moment to realize that this is exactly how to stumble on a diva, otherwise Sarah would feel pathetic. Now Sarah is real, the lines condensed from life experience touch with their truth.
Kyllikki Forssell puts her own experience, her love of theatre, herself on the line.