Review: Ladykillers – Sarjahurmaajat

Since 2010, I have seen all of Neil Hardwick’s productions at the Helsinki City Theatre. It is worth noting that almost all of these plays are classic texts: The first one I saw was Arsenic and Old Lace. The other was at Lilla Teatern, Den Girige (Saituri), where I also acted. I saw the third three times – the musical in Borrowed Feathers. At some point, I was lucky enough to see the Quartet, which has been running for over 10 years. A rare treat was the off-Broadway musical, Striking 12. Then we moved on to farces again: One Man, Two Bosses, and Hotel Paradiso.

This remake Ladykillers is also advertised as a black farce comedy. I’m not an expert on the genre, but for me, the audience looked more like a “semi-farce”, the performance was more of a pure comedy in my opinion.

The play is based on the British classic film of the same name from 1955, which the Coen brothers wrote an American remake of in 2004. The British version stars the legendary Sir Alec Guinness. The role was inherited by Tom Hanks in the remake.

The story itself is timeless in all its simplicity: Professor Marcus rents an apartment from a well-meaning old lady. In reality, he leads a gang of five criminals pretending to be classical music players, plotting a full-blown bank robbery of the lady’s apartment. If the story itself is timeless, so are the characters – caricature-like, uncontrollably funny villains.

The old lady Wilberforce is played in the Finnish premiere by the excellent Pirkko Mannola. Professor Marcus is played by Asko Sarkola, who pulls the role with honor – Sarkola’s name fits perfectly with Guinness and Hanks.

Also, every member of the criminal gang gets a laugh sensitive. They are Mikko Kivinen, Sauli Suonpää, Rauno Ahonen and Risto Kaskilahti. Especially Kivinen’s interpretation as a Major, huh! Heikki Sankari was very pleasant as Officer MacDonald. I know a lot of people are surprised when I say that some of the actors were pleasant, but it’s important. A pleasant actor is a pleasure to watch and listen to. The gestures are effortless and even though there wasn’t much stage time in this case either, it left a lot of positive vibes in my memory.

Director Hardwick is doing a favor by bringing such fresh plays to Finland (e.g. One Man Two Guvnors, Striking 12). Ladykillers is one of the best to date. The fine musical solutions bring an exciting cinematic atmosphere at times, which somehow makes the viewer even deeper into the story itself. I also enjoyed the clear framing of the lighting, which also helped to create a strong atmosphere if necessary. The story moved forward like a steam train.

When the script, direction and actors are good, it creates the impression that the work has not been directed at all. I wonder if Hardwick is directing the Guinness trilogy for the stage of the City Theatre, when the previous two, Paradiso and Ladykillers, can also be found in the actor’s filmography?

It came as a surprise to me that this stage adaptation is as recent as it was from 2011. Based on William Rose’s original screenplay, the play version is written by Graham Linehan. The story has been made to work smoothly on stage – by even adding jokes and tempo, as the excellent Linehan-Hardwick interview in the script tells (it’s worth reading, for example, in the virtual script on the website!)

The performance made me feel terribly good. I urge you, my readers, to return to quality theatre.