Rhymateatteri, The Father, the Son and Holy Moses

Review in Issue 15-3 | Autumn 2003

Dubbed ‘Finland's answer to Mr Bean', this is a bittersweet comedic observation of the relationship between a middle-aged father and his adolescent son. Highly renowned Finnish actor Martti Suosalo plays both father and son, providing one mayhem-filled scenario after another under the direction of Raila Leppåkoski.

The two share a sitcom-style one room flat and come and go about their daily business rarely interacting with each other, whilst all the time a neighbour tinkles away on his piano, providing a soundtrack for their silent lives.

Father, with a penchant for folding absolutely everything before he puts it in the bin, keeps house and is perhaps the calmer influence of the two, patient careful and considered in his actions. The son is a gormless character with a gawkish figure, appearing unable to wander about their tiny home without leaving disaster in his wake, and despite this is a mathematics genius.

The characters are well observed in Suosalo's physical portrayals. As the piece progresses they are pushed to the extreme of ridiculousness to supply the humour which rather darkly comes from the misfortunes both father and son experience. The funniest moments are those which stretch the imagination, like Father struggling with the overactive extractor fan and Son getting in a tangle with his hooded top and a hot roasted chicken.

It is obvious that director, performer and designer have collaborated well to create the mostly seamless transitions and interactions between the two characters. The only disappointment was that there were so few people there to enjoy it.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Festival
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Aug 2003

This article in the magazine

Issue 15-3
p. 23