Ronja Ryövärintytär

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Sep 082011
 

The only piece of theatre in the summer was Ryhmäteatteri’s take on Astrid Lindgren’s Ronja Ryövärintytär.

The stage was in the old fortress in Suomenlinna, an excellent fit for the play of which a huge chunk takes place in an old fortress.

As such, for long stretches in the story there was no staging – the environment itself worked perfectly as-is. The second half takes place in a forest, whose waterfall and caves were wonderfully realized using just the natural props.

The cast was down its biggest star – Kreeta Salminen had hurt herself a couple of nights before the play and had been replaced by an understudy.

1984

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Aug 152011
 

1984Saw Thespians Anonymous’ 1984, a rather minimalistic version of George Orwell’s classic dystopia.

The amateur play was indeed laid out with a small set of props, though not exactly a minimalistic one. After all, there were even clothing changes on stage.

It’s been ages since I read the book, so any omissions and changes to the plot went unnoticed. Almost, as the last line was not the original.

Tiger Lillies

 art, concert reports  Comments Off
Aug 122011
 

Tiger LilliesSaw Tiger Lillies on their Freakshow tour in Savoy back in May.

Unlike the show back in 2008 this was a very tight set, no requests from the audience expected or granted.

In addition to the band, there was a set of circus performers on stage. Their abilities ranged from righteously awesome (a snake woman whose spine bent in ways not really expected) to more commonplace yet still great (rope acrobatics).

Photography on stage was strictly prohibited, and hence the only images are from the post-show signing session.

Corto Maltese

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Aug 092011
 

Corto Maltese in Q-TeatteriIn addition to being very late with movie reviews, I’ve neglected descriptions of late spring cultural events.

Of which Q-Teatteri’s take on Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese was the first.

The minimalistic play is based on the The Golden House of Samarkand album and effortlessly laid out with half a dozen actors and as few props as possible.

Tommi Korpela as the world-weary sailor pretty much nails the role of the protagonist. In addition to looking and sounding like the stonefaced soldier of fortunes, he smokes the part. Indeed, his puffing on cigarettes (herbal, as stated in the notices in the theatre) gets almost comical at times.

Corto Maltese is a good story, the plot reaches from Venice to Caucasus without a hitch. The two lead characters, Corto and Rasputin, haven’t lost anything from the originals (though the latter has gained quite a bit of comic flair). And considering how often Hugo Pratt used just a few lines and black blotches of shadows for scenery, the bare bones staging is appropriate indeed.

Thumbs up for bravery (this is the world’s first Corto Maltese play), and thumbs up for the entertainment as well.

Silhouetting across the popular culture

 art, books, comics, games, movies, television  Comments Off
Jul 302011
 

Prisoner silhouetteI’ve been an Olly Moss fanboy for a long time. A recent addition to his portfolio is a collection of papercuts of various characters. There’s plenty of figures I do not recognize, and quite a few I wouldn’t mind on the walls. The style is very much the traditional silhouette – black on white – with colour very sparingly used for special effect (like the jackets of the Reservoir Dogs crew).

Muskettisoturit

 art, music  Comments Off
Mar 062011
 

Muskettisoturit

Saw Muskettisoturit in Peacock theatre. The musical built on Alexandre Dumas’ classic book and eighties music was probably the best piece of theatre this side of the millennium.

The story of D’Artagnan’s entry into the King’s elite troops and the first taste of court intrigue has been given a steamroller treatment.

While the plot and characters remain essentially the same, the style is completely different.

The musketeers embody rock, with a preference to eighties hair metal. To the extent that even their motto has been changed to “sex, drugs and rock’n'roll”. The roles range from a fresh-faced new player (D’Artagnan) to a shameless clone of Ozzy Osbourne (Porthos).

Cardinal’s troops use pop. Richelieu himself Michael Jackson, Milady taking on Madonna and Rochefort Prince (of the Purple Rain era).

The music fits the play well. Apart from very few too obvious song choices the soundtrack complements the plot well, and feels like a natural way of making the story flow forwards.

The actors execute their parts flawlessly. The top performances are from the two most over-the-top roles. Jukka Rasila’s Rochefort raises head and shoulders above any others – and provides large caliber ammo against anybody with even a slight disliking of the french. Miska Kaukonen’s take on king Louis XIII is even more improbable. The Dame Edna-lookalike has lost most touch with reality and is totally oblivious to the conspiracies going on. Oskari Katajisto as the Cardinal Richelieu has a great role inbetween an imbecile for a ruler and suboptimal staff. The Musketeers (and Veeti Kallio as their captain) are done with an industrial strength dose of rock cliches.

Muskettisoturit is the feelgood play of the year, if not the decade. Go watch it, even if the likes of Kiss and Skid Row otherwise cause an allergic reaction.

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