Oulun teatterin Taikatalvi

Tove Jansson's Taikatalvi (Magic Winter) is a classic Moomin story published in 1957. This is a tale of Moomintroll waking up in the middle of a winter only to encounter many mysteries of seasons, nature and friendship. Through life size puppetry we see many beloved Moomin characters come to life: pragmatic and compassionate Too-Ticky, rambunctious and stubborn Little My, curious and adventurous Moomintroll, the collecting and rule abiding Hemulen and the Ancestor who creaks in the corners. Helena Markku's beautiful job of designing the puppets along with Merja Pöyhönen's direction of the play created a peaceful, playful and magical twist to Magic Winter on stage. 

What I loved the most is how light and shadow was played with on stage. The softness and the wonder from the experimental usage of stage lights gave the sense of snow falling from trees onto your head or even watching Moomintroll play in a mountain of snow, for example. The portrayal of northern lights, the darkness of the winter and the gradual shift to more sun in the spring all came to life through the fantastic stage direction.

The movement of the puppets was fun to watch. Sometimes it would take up to three puppeteers to move a puppet. It wasn't distracting through. If anything, it was another point of interest for me as simple movements should not be taken for granted. The tempo was relaxing and the sound design flowed with the Moomintroll's adventure through winter as well as birds and other life forms waking up for spring.

The play is suitable for all ages. Most of the audience were young children with adults or caregivers. Oulu theatre does a good job in making this a positive and inclusive experience for people of all ages. Six year old Lucas, as did many other children, needed a cushion to put on his seat to make him just a tad taller to see the stage from the back row. After the show, it was also fun to stroll through the photo exhibition of the play on the second floor of the theatre. That gave us a time to reflect on the play, to talk about the characters and other Moomin stories.

Esityksessä kivaa oli isoisä. Lucas ei tykännyt lopusta, koska se oli hänen mielestä tylsä. Kokemuksessa oli hauskaa hahmo nimeltä surku, koska se ulisi. 
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Translation: The best part of the show was Grandpa. Lucas didn't like the ending because he thought it was boring. The funniest part of the experience was a character named Surku, because he howled. 

What did you enjoy about Taikatalvi?

I suggest you catch Taikatalvi at Oulu theatre while you can!

I am a member of the Oulu Theatre’s Audience Committee and received tickets to the performance. We aren’t critics; rather, we share the perspectives of ordinary theatregoers on social media at a time when the number of theatre reviews is on the decline.

Kuulun Oulun teatterin Näyttämöraatiin ja sain liput näytökseen. Emme ole kriitikkoja, vaan tuomme maallikkojen näkemystä teatterista someen ajassa, jossa teatteriarvioiden määrä on laskusuunnassa.

​#Näyttämöraati #OulunTeatteri #PuhettaTaiteesta​