Tänään vuorossa Szentivánéji álom, kotoisammin Kesäyön unelma. Tässä tapauksessa kyse on Budapestin Operettiteatterin hilpeästä musikaaliversiosta, joka kimaltaa, naurattaa ja vähän ärsyttääkin. Ennen kaikkea tarina on karkkia silmille, mutta samalla Operettiteatteri onnistuu parodioimaan itseään ja tekemään pilkkaa esimerkiksi Mercution pitkästä kuolinkohtauksesta Romeo & Julia -musikaalissa. Osa musiikista on todella tarttuvaa, osa aika kaameaa ja osa siltä väliltä, mutta tarinan adaptaatio toimii ja näyttelijät ovat erinomaisia. Olen harvoin nauranut teatterissa yhtä paljon.
Tässä jouluinen promoesiintyminen Budapestin parlamenttitalossa. Shakespearen näytelmän tuntevat tunnistanevat henkilöt.
Tunnen William Shakespearen näytelmiä luvattoman huonosti, joten oli korkea aika korjata tämäkin puute. Kokemus oli hyvä, ei mikään tajunnanräjäyttävä pläjäys mutta kuitenkin positiivisella tavalla mieleenpainuva.
(Ei huolta, puhenäytelmiä vieroksuvat, minulla on hautumassa pari musikaalitekstiäkin.)
Olen lukenut Hamletin kerran tai pari englanniksi, mutten rehellisesti sanoen ole päässyt oikein tekstiin sisälle vaikka olenkin kirjoittanut opiskelutöitä lukemastani. Muutamia kohtia olen tarkastellut sen verran lähemmin, että olen havainnut niiden olevan niin monimerkityksellisiä ja paikoin jopa kryptisiä, että minulta on loppunut tulkintaenergia kesken. En osaa sanoa, millainen Eeva-Liisa Mannerin suomennos on alkutekstiin verrattuna, mutta ainakaan esitystä katsoessani minulle ei oikeastaan kertaakaan tullut sellainen olo, että olisin täysin pudonnut kärryiltä tekstin suhteen. Sitä en tiedä, kuinka paljon monimerkityksellisyyttä käännöksessä on menetetty, mutta esitys toimi kokonaisuutena ja kieli oli kaunista, ovelaa ja hauskaa.
Adaptaatiossa näkyi ohjaaja Mikko Viherjuuren kädenjälki aika reippaasti, mutta produktio oli onnekseni siinä määrin kuitenkin perinteinen, että pysyin kärryillä tapahtumista eikä tarinaa ollut lähdetty viemään mihinkään tavoittamattoman taiteellisiin sfääreihin. Vanhaa kunnon teatteria mukavan modernilla otteella. Tulkinta ei ollut valmiiksi pureksitun oloinen muttei itsetarkoituksellisen haastavakaan, vaan se jätti sopivasti mietittävää katsojalle.
Produktio on visuaalisesti kaunis ja kiinnostava. Tajusin vasta juuri ennen esityksen alkua, että lavastus on Marjatta Kuivaston, mutta verhon noustua olisin osannut arvata sen muutenkin. Juuri sopiva annos minimalistisuutta, näyttäviä yksityiskohtia (kynttilät ja soihdut!) ja esteettisyyttä makuuni. Puvustaja Leena Rintalan käsissä Hamletista oli muotoutunut angstinen emorokkaripoika mustissa pillifarkuissa ja tennareissa, kun taas vanhempi hahmosukupolvi kulki ylellisissä ja ihanasti laskeutuvissa kaavuissa ja helmoissa. Pidin myös valoista (Raimo Salmi) ja äänistä (Ivan Bavard) suuresti.
Näyttelijäkaarti oli kokonaisuudessaan jotain väliltä hyvä–loistava. Kokemukseni Tanskan prinsseistä on kovin rajoittunut enkä tiedä millainen Hamletin ns. kuuluisi olla, mutta koska minua viisaammatkin tuntuvat olleen samaa mieltä niin uskallan julistaa, että Tomi Alatalo nimiroolissa on julmetun hyvä. Hypnoottinen, ahdistuksessa rypevä, kyyninen, huumorintajuinen, pikkuisen pimeä mutta samalla raastavan selväjärkinen. Jokin Ofeliassa (Eeva Hakulinen) minua ärsytti, mutten tiedä, oliko ärsytys lähtöisin näyttelijästä vai hahmosta, koska Hakulisen näyttelemisessä ei kuitenkaan ollut mitään vikaa. Itsemurhia tekevät neidot eivät ole koskaan olleet suosikkihahmojani, mutta ainakin Hakulisen käsissä Ofelia oli kuitenkin kiinnostava ja moniulotteinen.
Komediallisempi puoli toimi myös hyvin. En tiedä, saivatko Heikki Kinnunen, Tuija Ernamo ja Jukka Leisti kaikki ne väliaplodit siksi, että ovat Heikki Kinnunen, Tuija Ernamo ja Jukka Leisti, mutta etenkin haudankaivajat Kinnunen ja Ernamo olivat mainion hilpeitä.
Shakespearelle tyypillisesti näytelmä päättyy ruumiskasan äärelle, mutta jostain syystä minulle jäi silti esityksestä hyvä mieli. Ainakin paha sai palkkansa ja yksi fiksu ja mukava hahmo jäi eloonkin!
Dolhai Attila / Szerényi László - Rómeó
Vágo Bernadett / Vágó Zsuzsi - Júlia
Szabó P. Szilveszter / Magócs Otto - Tybalt
Imre Sebastian / Németh Attila - Escalus, the Prince of Verona
Csuha Lajos - Capulet
Janza Kata / Füredi Nikolett - Lady Capulet
Csengeri Ottília - Lady Montague
Polyák Lilla / Nádasi Veronika - the Nanny
Pálfalvy Attila / Földes Tamás - Pater Lorenzo
Szabó Dávid / Bereczki Zoltán - Mercutio
Kerényi Miklós Máté / Meszaros Árpád Zsolt - Benvolio
Egyházi Géza - Paris
R&J isn't my favourite musical on earth, but it's a nice feel-good show. It's nice to watch the twisted details and the excellent actors and dancers and all. The musical itself has far too many similar-sounding love songs and angsty solos for my taste (seriously, if I heard only the melody I couldn't tell most slow songs from another) and somehow the sad songs most of the time lack the sadness and are just light pop. The catchy and angry songs work, though. I'm more interested in the minor characters than the love couple, because the minor characters have fascinating interaction going on. The Hungarian production of the musical is definitely the best I've encountered; they have something interesting going on stage and not just the obligatory love story. Everyone has an affair with each other, and for example Tybalt and Lady Capulet clearly seem to have something going on between them, which is awfully fascinating to follow. Lady C is having something going on with everyone, though. Zoltán!Mercutio tends to discreetly carry her offstage in the masquerade in a very suggestive way, she flirts with Paris, has an affair with a servant... I bet Shakespeare would love the production.
They do have made some odd solutions, too. Romeo dies by hanging himself in the church, with Juliet's body tied to him. Then Juliet wakes up, notices she's hanging tied to dead Romeo, and opens her wrists with Romeo´s knife. Romantic.
I've seen the production with different cast combinations. Attila Dolhai is starting to be a bit too old to be believable as an angsty 20-year-old Romeo, whereas László Szerényi was much more dreamy and Romeo-like and I like his voice more. Both Vágó girls are nice as Juliet, but Zsuzsi seemed to have more going on in her head than Bernadett. Dávid Szabó as Mercutio didn't impress me at all, he overacted the death scene and was otherwise just uninteresting and not my kind of Mercutio. The death scene requires certain drama, but it can be done in a more believable way, and Zoltán Bereczki is amazing as Mercutio, though he's getting a bit too old for the role, too. Attila Pálfalvy as Pater Lorenzo blew me away. The very last song is boring as hell, but the guy practically stole the show, whereas I haven't yet managed to really like Tamás Földes in anything. Veronika Nádasi's Nanny has more guts, balls and every other symbolical body part you can think of, and I liked her acting more than Lilla Polyák's, but Lilla's voice is more beautiful. I like it how the Nanny grabs Romeo's thigh at some point, much like a potential customer checking a horse, and seems to approve of him.
Kata Janza doedn't sound as bad anymore as I had feared, and I like her acting as Lady Capulet, but Nikolett Füredi sings much more beautifully and there's nothing wrong with her acting, either. It was nice to see Szilveszter Szabó as Tybalt, because previously we had Otto Magócs and he's one of the most unimpressive actors I've seen on stage. Sziszi has a more Tybalt-ic air in him, and he's the Angst Master of the theatre. I also enjoted Kiskero as Benvolio, he's bouncy and lively and nice to watch, and together with Zoltán they were very amusing. And bouncy. MÁZs is still eww and I don't like his voice, though he sings well.
Géza Egyházi has found his inner Paris, meaning that he's far more interested in for example Lady Capulet than in her daughter. Out of the male persons on stage, I'd definitely go with Paris, and then possibly have an angsty boy or two as lovers if I'd really feel like it. Paris seems to have more common sense, bigger incomes, and no crazy family following him around. Besides, both Zsolt Homonnay and Géza happen to match my taste in men more than the boys. :P
And goodness, someone please do something about Attila Németh's (the Prince) trousers. They're tight and show every detail there is to show. He could have gone there without trousers and I would have been less disturbed. (He also looked like he was going around commando.) The same goes for Ottília Csengeri's breasts that seem to have a personality of their own. I wonder why they haven't already added them to the cast list.
Oberon - Homonnay Zsolt
Titánia - Füredi Nikolett
Lysander - Dolhai Attila
Hermia - Vágó Zsuzsi
Demetrius - Bálint Ádám
Heléna - Peller Anna
Puck - Kerényi Miklós Máté
Theseus - Jantyik Csaba
Hippolyta - Csengeri Ottília
Zuboly - Bereczki Zoltán
Vackor - Csuha Lajos
Dudás - Sánta László
The basic Shakespeare story, with a mixture of every possible kind of music and some parody of the clichés of the Operettszínház musical productions.
The cast was great and can't find any complaints in any of them. I've never been a huge fan of Zsolt Homonnay, something in him has simply annoyed me, but now he really impressed me and acted and sang wonderfully. I'm a fan. Nikolett Füredi has to have one of the most beautiful voices in the city. Miklós Máté Kerényi was an adorable Puck and seemed to have fun with the role. It was also nice to see Attila Dolhai and Zsuzsi Vágó on stage, although the young couples were quite uninteresting as characters and could have done with some more changes to develop the characters. I liked Attila's big Greek-style solo, though I have no idea what it had to do with the story. I've seen László Sánta many times as Alfred in Tanz der Vampire and seeing him as Thisbe was priceless. He's got a pretty soprano. ;) And, well, Zoltán Bereczki tends to be great in everything he does. Even when dressed up as a donkey and having sex with Titania.
The musical must be partly written for the actors of the theatre. We cracked up when Attila sang something like "I want my face in posters on every wall", because when you walk out of the theatre, you can see him at least in five different huge musical posters on both sides of the street. Zoltán Bereczki's "death scene" as Pyramus consisted of several minutes of him hitting himself with his sword all over again and going "I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying.", which oddly reminded me of his death scene as Mercutio in Rómeó és Júlia a week earlier. At least these people know how to laugh at themselves. Oberon and Titania had a very Death&Elisabeth-ish feeling in them, which probably is even more visible with Szilveszter Szabó and Kata Janza in the roles.
The visual side of the production was awesome. I usually dislike Operettszínház's way of filling the stage with everything possible, but dream-like and weird sets and hordes of ensemble actually fitted the musical very well. Especially the fairies had amazing costumes and make-up. Photos.
In general the musical was... interesting. It's hard to describe as a whole because it feels like someone put the Operettszínház into a mixer and made a musical out of it, but despite some flails it was very funny and beautiful. And quite dirty, but I still don't know how Hungarians manage to do that with much better taste than for example Finns. About 2/3 of the music was quite boring and didn't stay in my memory even to the end of the song, but there were some really catchy and good pieces as well. Especially Puck and Oberon had some nice melodies. There was a bit too much ensemble scenes, and the role of Hippolyta felt like written because they wanted to show that Ottília Csengeri has breasts and can sing, in this order. There were details I didn't understand, like the flying skeletons in black robes (I won't say "Deaths" because in this context it usually means something else) during Puck's song, and the point of some songs was somewhat unclear, but with some development it could be very good. At least it was funny, people were dying of laughter especially during the play in the end.
