Review: Älä pukeudu päivälliselle

You can’t help but laugh at this

Farce is a demanding genre. At its best, it has a social perspective. The text can also be quite silly in its message, but even so, the performance can be entertaining and very successful. However, that nonsense must meet the requirements of a masterclass in words.

I saw the performance in Riihimäki in 2003 and I didn’t remember much about the content, which probably says something about the significance of the text.

Marc Camoletti’s farce Don’t Dress Up for Dinner revolves around attempts to conceal extramarital affairs. At his magnificent summer home in Fiskars, Matti is eagerly waiting for his wife Linda to go to her mother’s house, as she has her own plans for the evening.

However, nothing goes as planned. When one crooked step is taken, the result is a real folk dance, the step patterns of which are unfamiliar to everyone. However, you have to continue dancing and someone in the heat of the moment comes up with a benefit from the situation.

Jaakko Saariluoma already proved a year ago that he is quite a master as a farce director. At that time, the tenors were in trouble on the Arena stage. Now, in the same place, you can watch the preparation of a top dinner in such a way that the chef cannot be the chef and the mistress cannot be a mistress.

In terms of steering, the timing is delicious. Typical of the genre, four doors are trotted through and clothes are changed frequently. I especially feel like giggling when an actor’s thought throws a bull’s butt in the middle of a sentence and he realizes something that his mouth can’t repeat. There are so many secrets to keep.

I haven’t seen Pekka Strang in comic roles before and I’m surprised. As a friend of the owner of the house (Pertti Sveholm), Harri, he goes from being a dry accountant to a hilarious rascal. The role of Janita, who is called a chef, is led by Katja Küttner.

The Finnish translation has been adapted to fit well in Finland, and updates have been made to the present day and its sayings. Camoletti’s original text is from 1985. Don’t dress up for dinner, charm with its bubbly lightness and even the most hardened viewer will have their mouths twisted into laughter.