Bitef

photo: Petri Virtanen

The name of thè performance Works as a mere route sign, and when one follows the perspectives opened by it, one ends up pondering on many kinds of questions. A ringing phone - namely a land-line phone - and the Situation of choosing so closely connected with it form one main point of interest in the performance. To answer or not to answer, to listen to your voice-mail messages now or later, and on thè whole, all that a person is connected to through an object of communication called the phone, are questions brought under examination. ln hìs terrific juggling act artistically balancing with a phone receiver and balls Walo shows in a concrete way, how you can get tangled up in a phone line. In another scene Walo manipúlales a реп, a note block and a ball in a splendid way. Thus conversaron, communication, gets in thè piece many forms ranging from concrete to abstract and conversaron means not just talking but also conversaron trough reading books or making notes. The performance also displays an ironie comment on how conversation so offen becomes one-sided monologue for some reason or another. A telephone doesn't necessarily connect people; it can also serve to the very purpose of keeping them apart from each other. in a broader perspective of thinking thè piece examines questions connected with repetition and recurrence, Even Walo's juggling is about repetition as the movement patters of the objects are repeated but at the same time always varied. The problematics of repetition are activated in thè piece espedally trough the moving image. At times the performers alter thè appearance of thè stage using movable surfaces onto which video image is projected.The image is an oid soviet silent film Aelita that was directed by Yakov Protazanov in 1924. Certain scenes from the movie are repeated, but they are repeated and copied on different surfaces, which causes the scenes to multiply in manifold forms, so that they attain a whole new appearance. Terrific are espedally the scenes in which the projection surfaces are in the shapes of postures and gestures of an actress from thè movie, onto which are then projected those exact postures from thè movie. In this way thè performance considers communication also as a phenomenon that can be separated from its time and space and a possibility of connecting people and places from different periods of time. The spectators sitting in. thè theatre are in interaction with thè old movie that gets so various forms on stage. The silent movie is also linked with a clip of video shot in a modern apartment. The character of Hakkarainen appears to transgress the limits of present time and space in the theatre and move into thè video image, thus appearing to exist in two places at the same time, Keskusteluja is a piece that examines questions related with time and space in way that is intellectually challenging and rewarding. It leaves the questions without answers, and it is precisely there that its magic and artistry lies.

Kaisa Kurìkka