Policeman Volander (Rauno Ahonen) and Ville (Hannes Suominen) trying to reach the core of despair. Photo by Charlotte Estman-Wennström.
Terror, death, school shootings – the explosive despair of young men has been in the news all over the world during last years.
It is also the subject of Meidän poika (Our Son), a new and important play by Pasi Lampela at Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri. It is more topical than ever, and should be seen even abroad. Those desperate boys are not only the names in the news; they are closer than we think. They are our sons, our neighbours, they live in our cities, in our country and in our world.
Ville is clumsy but an intelligent boy, doing well at school – and bullied by his classmates. To revenge Ville constructs a bomb, but he is also a bomb himself. People around him realise that there is something terribly wrong in him, but don´t know how to deal with it before it turns into tragedy. To his mother Ville says everything is fine, and which mother would like to believe it even if she knows that it is not true?
To me the essence of the play was the question how to prevent things like these happening. With open eyes, with open heart? Those moments of mutual understanding are so rare and delicate as we can see even in this play.
At the end the policeman who has failed in helping Ville understands that he and we all are responsible: ”Where to find the magic word that could put an end to this?”
It is also the subject of Meidän poika (Our Son), a new and important play by Pasi Lampela at Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri. It is more topical than ever, and should be seen even abroad. Those desperate boys are not only the names in the news; they are closer than we think. They are our sons, our neighbours, they live in our cities, in our country and in our world.
Ville is clumsy but an intelligent boy, doing well at school – and bullied by his classmates. To revenge Ville constructs a bomb, but he is also a bomb himself. People around him realise that there is something terribly wrong in him, but don´t know how to deal with it before it turns into tragedy. To his mother Ville says everything is fine, and which mother would like to believe it even if she knows that it is not true?
To me the essence of the play was the question how to prevent things like these happening. With open eyes, with open heart? Those moments of mutual understanding are so rare and delicate as we can see even in this play.
At the end the policeman who has failed in helping Ville understands that he and we all are responsible: ”Where to find the magic word that could put an end to this?”
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