Agenda Magazine

The Finnish National Theatre has seen many successes. The Unknown Soldier, directed by dirctor Kristian Smeds, was all over the newspapers and got a full house ever since the first night in 2007.

The spring of 2010 sees a new interpretation of Moliere´ s The Misantrophe (Ihmisvihaaja in Finnish) in a new translation – and dressed in Marimekko.

The scenography and costumes were exceptionally ambitious. Director Åsa Kalmér has with Ann Bonander-Looft created a visually beautiful experience.

Most surprising is that the actors are all dressed in clothes that take us to Moliere´ s era. The costumes use Marimekko´ s velvets and cottons, and some of the dresses of gentelmen´ s costumes are just fantastic – especially the ones with reds or greens. Bonander-Looft is responsible for these simple but cleverly designed creations.

In the middle of the stage there also is a giant birthday cake – like construction, with an airy, giant lace canopy hanging on top of it.

Using Marimekko is an excellent idea, apart from the fact that some patterns are for us Finns best known from kitchen curtains of summer cottage tablecloths and thus brings memories that have nothing to do with what is going on at the stage. The Swedish ladies did not know this, and must thus be forgiven.

The new translation rhymes as well as did the original. The actors do basically good work, but some messages might have come through with a bit less underlining or acrobatics. The classics are strong enough to carry the message through without the young ensemble showing all their skills at once.

Music for this new version is also composed by a woman, Ms. Malin Dahlström.