Review: Asmodeus ja 1313 sielua

Juha Hurme’s theatrical aesthetic is heavenly even in hell – Asmodeus and 1313 touched, hurt and made us laugh – It was exhilarating to watch the stunningly fine acting

The Helsinki City Theatre has damn good actors. For this group, neither the scriptwriter, the director nor even the ensemble’s own collective will can arrange such hot spots that the job would not be managed. Now the vital dance on stage led by the main demon Asmodeus, actor Vappu Nalbantoglu , was exhilarating to watch.

The City Theatre’s Asmodeus and 1313 Souls proved once again, at least for this author, the expressive power of the theatrical aesthetics created by Juha Hurme .

It may be that the hefty jokes and quips Hurme wrote in the story made us laugh more at the hats sitting in the stands than at the hats. I grunted from time to time with my stomach churning. In the adaptation of Runar Schildt’s novel and in the follow-up story he wrote to it, Hurme has painted the cycle of time from the seven deadly sins to the horrors caused by the coronavirus epidemic and climate change with a humorist’s brush.

The core message of the play was hidden in the mysterious number 1313 in its title.

In Schildt’s book Asmodeus och tretton själarna a demon makes a bet with the Marshal of Hell. To win the bet, he has to get 13 people to sell their souls to the devil in three days. The second episode takes place in the year 2026 in Hurme’s future Finland.  Asmodeus and the Marshal of the Court bet again, but this time the devil has to fry 1300 people who have sold their souls of their own accord in the same time.

Asmodeus was close to winning this bet as well. How the story turned out in the end cannot be revealed now. There is also a plot in this story. In any case, the message related to the figures was easy to read. Even though we are swearing by individuality right now, in reality the tide of the spirit of the times is once again rushing towards collective stupidity.

At the time of the publication of Schildt’s book, the First World War was being fought in Europe. The book, which is one of Hurme’s finds, represents the old world. The people in the book represent human types and they each fall into one of the seven original sins in turn. Still, they are still emphatically still individuals, not one-eyed cyclops shaped by social media and smartphones, whose souls Asmodeus could pull with the same string to his master’s sulphur-smelling sauna purchase.

The first episode of the play was visually eye-catchingly beautiful and amazingly well-acted. A unique tone was given to this theatrical aesthetic by the soundscape conjured up for the stage by cellist Piia Komsi and bassist Ville Herrala’s string duo. Komsi also sang and her soprano made me move, at least deep in my heart. Oh my god, what a wonderful sound.

The first episode of the play was such perfect theatrical art that some critics have wished that the same thing would have continued after the intermission.

Today, just like a hundred years ago, people still have strong experiences of the presence of both great goodness and evil. Still, the people of hell in Schildt’s story gave the play a humorous frame of reference. Asmodeus and 1313 Souls was a hilarious comedy in form.

Hurme did not belittle or ridicule such experiences. Experiences of spirituality are also at the core of art, even though rapidly developing neurosciences have at least given an indication of what the experience of the presence of God or the Devil may be about.

Perhaps Hurme wanted to say that in just over a hundred years, the circle has closed. In the story of Schildt’s book, the continuum of Western philosophy and rational thinking based on it was represented by a priest. He is also the easiest piece of cake for Asmodeus. A heretic wants and belongs at the stake.

Today, the room chart of people of my generation has been turned upside down. Now we have to doubt what we already have scientifically certain information about. A fiery furnace already awaits these skeptics of modern science here on earth. Perhaps on top of the gate of the future climate hell will be written the slogan of today’s denialists: “Don’t believe the results of science, find out for yourself!”.

This is how it is and this has always been the case. The riddles of quantum physics cannot be solved with common sense.

The humorous frame story of the first episode justified the carnivalesque frenzy of the second episode. Hurme had drawn a picture of Finland ravaged by climate change, in which the rise of sea water had turned Scandinavia into an island and submerged Helsinki. Lahti had been made the country’s new capital, and in the Salpausselkä ski pit, the elite howled like a pack of wolves for the blessing of a stronger right.

It may be that the outcomes of Laura Huhtasaari and many other of her kindred spirits are too bad even to be jokes. However, the core of the problem is not these gibberish, but the polarization of society. It seems that “idiots” such as Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump can rise to power again and again even in a democracy. The problem is people who only want to love those who are stronger than themselves.

Hurme’s extraordinary readiness was again reflected in the fact that the play’s hell was populated by many historical figures. The popes and bishops of the past were also well represented in this group. The characters were inspired by the stunning costumes designed by Sari Suominen .

The skilled actors of the theatre created these characters without underlining and unnecessary exaggeration. Even though the scenes progressed at times at a breathtaking pace, literally running, the speech technique did not fail. Even an old moldy ear like me could clearly understand every word spoken on stage.

From history, Hurme had also picked up the quarrelsome players in the divided party field of Finland in the future. The bloc of hats was made up of supporters of the Green Left, and the hats firmly seized by those others who had elevated Huhtasaari to the presidency of the country and baked Mikko Kärnä into prime minister. The comparison was amusing, even though the hats and caps that fought for influence in 18th-century Sweden were still actual parties.

Hurme is known as a master of empty stage theatre. In the set design designed by Katariina Kirjavainen , the illusion of space was also nicely realised. A table, a chair and the white-painted vertical elements bordering the stage. One staircase that led up, others down. A tablecloth that was constantly changed. The set design solutions gave space and emphasised the actors’ masterful acting.