Review: The Black Rider at Lahti City theater

What is love? Baby don’t hurt me

The Black rider is deeply symbolic show that glides through major themes: life and death, loving and letting go. As one deeply fascinated by symbols and esotericism, it’s my honor to review Lahti’s Black Rider here on Broadwayworld. Minor spoilers included.

I find my seat in the audience, knowing the new artistic director Lauri Maijala wouldn’t offer anything ordinary or lukewarm. And I was right. Fall in love with concrete is the theatre’s new motto and the “opening titles” of the crew are projected onto a concrete looking background.

The show starts and we get a welcome speech in English. Translations or subtitles would have been convenient, but due to copyrights it’s not possible. Nevertheless the eternal themes and lessons we get to witness aren’t tied to any language. Physicality, visuality and might are the major forces in this performance. 

A special thanks to the incredible band. It takes talent to play such eerily and at times on purpose out of tune to create just the right atmosphere for this horror story. 

At the beginning we get a clear introduction to the characters as every character has a different approach to the audience and also to the stage. The show is full references to retro films, to which I’ll come back to later. The introduction of the characters in the first song reminds me of my dearest Rocky Picture Horror Show. There are three characters I want to highlight: the Forest Ranger by Mikko Jurkka whose pronunciation and deep voice made the text and story clear as a crystal. Nomi Enckell whose sharp soprano skills and dashing stunts stand out. Tuomas Korkia-Aho does excellent and detailed work throughout the show as an awkward Wilhelm. It’s peculiar that even though the character is shy, Tuomas doesn’t shy away as a performer but dares to take his scenes to the very end, even though he’d be fumbling away with his bike as others continue on the main stage. A honorable mention to Vilma Kinnunen, the devil herself, whose southern accent is certainly on point.

Maijala is firm with his absurdism. The eerie atmosphere is at times created with stillness. Robert (performed by fluid Tomi Enbuska) a disrespectful greaser pees in a bucket of the Ranger for several minutes, emphasizing his disrespect and high status. In the foggy forest one animal appears, then another and another and another, in a very slow pace. Kätchen (sweet Aurora Manninen) and Wilhelm are pushed onto the stage in their rollerblades and they won’t make a move for a long time. Kätchen is also taken away from the stage by a stage technician. A powerful symbol of how they are helpless at the hands of fate. Choreographer Jenni Nikolajeff has done an incredible job: stillness is powerful.

Back to film references that are mainly found from the posters, first in Kätchen’s room. Romeo and Juliet and Titanic both tell the story of impossible love and thus are foreshadowing this story as well. When Wilhelm does the deal with the devil in the first half and is taken into her travel trailer, Wilhelm’s hand hits the glass just like in Titanic as the trailer is taken away. Desperately he has chosen his path, still hoping it’d lead to his beloved. In the second half the devil introduces a China shipping container onto the stage. Wilhelm sits in there, terrified of what he’s become. Golden wallpapers of the container are torn down (“if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is”, Maijala states in the program) revealing The Fly and Naked Lunch posters. The Fly is an old film of body horror, the fear of turning into something else as Wilhelm already physically has; Naked Lunch deals with themes of addiction, paranoia and the blurred lines of reality and delusion. A dark creature, a mixture of lizard and fly, terrors Wilhelm in the room.

If there’s any proper critique I could give I’d say do it more ruthlessly. Own it! Shout it out with no fear! Make us uncomfortable, because life and its fears and darknesses are uncomfortable. I’m positive the crew will do it for the show gained standing ovations, after all.

All in all The Black Rider is a show that escorts us all to face the dark depths of the human psyche. It’s for those that wish to co-experience a show, not merely just watch or worse, think through a show without the intentional activation of intuition and mirror neurons, empathy. Instead of giving flowers to the crew, Lahti donated the money to Irti Huumeista ry (Free from drugs). The performance definitely leaves an original mark.

Review: Rosanna Ilo Liuski

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