Mischievious Sci-fi Circus
Aino Martiskainen
Keskisuomalainen July 12, 2013 00:01


Rajatila (Borderline)

The old Kangas paper mill is already an exciting place, and the contemporary circus group with a sense of drama uses it with to ther advantage with skill. Circus Uusi Maailma from Jyväskylä has built a new, compact and impressive performance called Rajatila in the Pergament Hall of the factory.

Sets and equipment look like they'd only been found abandoned in the factory, but no doubt everything is finely designed.

The performance borrows and modifies familiar sci-fi imagery. For example, the rough, machine-oil-scented metal realism of the Alien movies shakes hands with more etheric spheres.

It serves as a framework to show, which is as much a performance, dance, theater as it is circus. Everything is strongly flavored with the unique concept of the human image by Circus Uusi Maailma, as well as their inimitable humour, of which there is now quite a lot.

The world of Rajatila is some poetic post-apocalyptic vision of the future. The characters may be people, robots, or something other, it is probably for the viewer to decide. It is pointless to expect a plot.

Themes, characters, ambience, or even visual elements bind the clearly different sections and scenes to each other. The viewers have lots of space for their own associations.

The performers operate e.g on the floor, in a chain, and more familiarly on the pole. In the acrobatic interludes there are fresh visual insights and spectacular mystery that should not be described in advance.

This is not about virtuoso numbers put together - everything is a part of the wholeness, maybe even more organically than in the preceding works. The skilled, personal, and finely cast performers throw themselves into their characters marvellously.

Some of the faces are familiar, others are new. Acrobatics happen solo, in pairs or as a group.

At first impression the stage is narrow but quite deep. First impression is more right than you'd guess.

If this kind of use of space, stretching the limits of credibility, has been stolen from somewhere, I have not seen that performance. Entire space is made use of, but not always as you would first expect.

You can admire the sense of structure and tension of the director Seija Hakkarainen. Her style could be described as mischievous.

The performance exploits ruthlessly the viewer's expectations, letting them down and fulfilling them in turn. This applies to both the content and the staging, both of which are consciously breaking the general "rules"

Just when you think you are getting bored to the dreary wandering, the mood changes to humorous and emotional. After a mechanical curtness we see unashamed erotics, at the same time corny and tender.

Attention to detail is phenomenal, and in the progress of the performance the details become more and more unbridled.

It seems like Rajatila undergoes a dialogue with the boundary of dream and popular culture, lovingly but teasing. We are somewhere in landscape of collective unconscious, that the psychological insight of Hakkarainen has brought to the stage.

The performers, space, soundscape and lighting are all indispensable building blocks. The lighting almost makes your jaw drop as the they change from concrete to fantastical and turn the performers into movie characters or aliens.

The movie-influenced like music, consisting of distinct pieces, supports even abrupt changes of scenes. It is not aggressive: but effectively manipulates emotional states.
There might have been small technical difficulties at the premiere, but they did not impede the experience. From Rajatila you can expect strange beauty in the air and on the ground. distant familiarity that makes you smile - and the unexpected.

Design, direction, sets: Seija Hakkarainen. Acrobatics choreography: Erika Forsberg, Janne Moilanen, Hakkarainen, performers. Lights: Arto Saarelainen, Hakkarainen. Sounds: Ari Lampinen, Hakkarainen, Karri Kuivanen. Music: Jukka Kaikkonen, Kuivanen ym. Costumes: Sari Nyman, Maiju Hietala, Hakkarainen, Heidi Naumanen. Performers: Keijo Koskenharju, Ari Lampinen, Marianne Leppä, Niko Miettinen, Tuomas Rönkä, Eero Virtanen, Erika Forsberg, Jukka Kääntä / Kalle Vastamäki.