The Gloria Cultural Arena was alive with boisterous chitchat as we scouted for empty seats, kudos to speksi marketing team for carrying their weight. As a speksi virgin, I wanted to go into the experience with an open mind, but having sat through many torturous amateur theater performances in the past, my expectations were low. The stage was set, the musicians fiddled nervously with their instruments, heads bobbed up and down, hands were waved, seats were saved, and occasionally I spotted a feathered hairpiece or a sequined dress, reassuring signs that if nothing else, I could enjoy the costume artistry. The fading of the lights hushed the chatter and so began a night of magic and mischief.
Fox-theater presents: The Master of Magic, is the fourth speksi produced by the Faculty of Arts. Set in a New Orleans theater during the roaring 20’s, the story tells of a magician, Alphonso Allegria ( Hannu Hästbacka) desperately hoping to prove his love to the sweetheart of his younger years by becoming the world’s greatest magician, which naturally requires drastic measures, like selling his soul to the devil (which he does). In the climactic scene, the devil comes to claim Alphonso’s soul, but being the mischievous magician that he is, he disappears never to be seen again. Of course there are little twists and turns, and a myriad of colorful characters that together create a lively show, but those are details I won’t go into.
Of the other characters I will say, that many of them bore resembles to familiar figures; Jean-Pierre Fox ( Valter Numminen), the owner of Fox theater was somewhat of a replica of Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge, Musichetta (Elina Kukkonen), the ever-drunk knife-thrower reminded me of a Disney villain and Dallas Texas (Riku Salpakari), the rich ranch owner was straight out those old McDonald’s commercials. But without the obvious stereotypes of a fat ranch owner and his snobby wife or a ditsy magicians assistant and a lascivious theater owner, the story might have been a bit of a bore. These recognizable characters were the pillars the whole story rested on. It’s hard to judge without a point of reference, but as far as I understand, the purpose of a speksi is not to invoke deep, heart-wrenching emotions, but to put on a loud, colorful, “I almost peed my pants laughing so hard”-kind of a show, and for me this festive, 1920’s theater scene with funny, archetypal characters worked.
Had this been an ordinary play, the story would not have received critical acclaim, but for a speksi-style script, it worked perfectly. It left plenty of room for the whipped cream and cherry on top-part of a speksi, the “restarts”. The concept of a “restart” is what sets a speksi apart from other shows by inviting the audience to participate in making the performance. At any given moment, a person in the audience can shout out “omstart”, a cue for the actors to re-do their lines. In addition, a person can request a specific style or manner in which the lines have to be delivered. This particular crowd was enthusiastic to say the least. It was one restart after another, in a myriad of ways; rally-english, Aki Kaurismäki, “tell the truth” and at one point the actors were even swopping costumes. This kind of spontaneous improvisation is no easy task for a performer and I was quite taken back by the level of professionalism from the cast. The comic relief of the show was a collaborative work of the actors and the audience, and that makes a speksi-style performance unique and a whole lot of fun.
Music served as a means of carrying the story on and introducing new characters. The songs were familiar, some contemporary some a little older, all with new Finnish lyrics. We heard everything from a Cole Porter classic to Mr. Fox singing in falsetto to an electro beat. My expectations were somewhere along the lines of a crummy electric guitar, a barely audible bass and a couple poor singers, but to my relief and surprise the band was top-notch.
Though the show was quite long (we had some very excited restart-yellers in the crowd), the atmosphere in the building was fantastic. What better way to spend a Friday night then in a building full of music, dance and laughter? But what really topped it off for me was the fact that those talented people I saw on the stage were fellow students. I’m all for professional theater, but I also love that university students have a venue for creativity, artistry and theatrical talent. It’s an opportunity for creative expression that doesn’t require a ten-year drama club membership or a degree in dressmaking. And, as an added bonus, it’s not a pain to watch! These people were very good at what they did.
Producing a show with a dozen musicians, a large cast of dancers and actors, all in full costume, lights, set design, marketing and creating a visual image is a huge endeavor for any theater group, let alone a student theater group. All in all, I commend the whole production team for putting together what was a thoroughly enjoyable night of dynamic, musical theater!
Krista Holm, one of the playwrights tells of her experiences in making The Master of Magic.
How do you feel now that the project is completed?
“It’s been under a week since the whole project was completed, and I’m still quite tired, especially after the rough performance week, but I’m also extremely satisfied and relieved. The performances went very well, we received exalting feedback and everybody had fun. The production crew’s party is still ahead, but after that I think my feelings will be on the melancholic side. Even though friendships and memories remain, the end of a production means the break-up of a family. I’ve been part of Humanities speksi-productions since the beginning and I decided that this would be my last one, so this year’s ending party might be particularly emotional for me. Right now I’m still feeling great!”
What kinds of things have you been involved in the speksi productions over the years?
“Over the years I’ve been involved in writing, producing, dancing, I’ve been the head of the marketing team, a spokesperson, in set design and the AD-team, which is in charge of the visual image of the speksi. Especially my production year included taking care of miscellaneous things such as cooking and organizing the ticket sales. “
What originally got you interested in being part of a production like this?
“I heard rumors during my freshman year, that the Humanities students were thinking of producing their own speksi. Since this was the first speksi our faculty put on, I didn’t have any preconceptions of what that might look like. It just sounded like fun, so when the search for participants began, I decided to join. “
Does writing a script for a speksi, impose any special challenges?
“ A speksi script has to be clear-cut and snappy, because the participation of the audience complicates and elongates the scenes. A complicated story will drown under the “restarts”.
Where did the idea behind the story for Master of Magic come from?
“The script is based on the Faustus myth and alludes to the story of Robert Johnson and the devil, but the original idea was born during the dance practices of last years speksi. For some reason we used to crack jokes about the movie Magic Mike, and I jokingly said I’d write a speksi titled Taika Mikko. The dumb joke turned into reality when I got the idea of writing a story about a magician. The working title of the speksi was “Taika Mikko” until the very end. Sometimes silly jokes turn into good ideas.”
What was the best part of writing process? How about the whole production process?
“The most enjoyable moments of the writing process happened when the playwright team sat down to brainstorm. I also enjoyed the actual hard work of writing. Comedy as a genre is particularly close to my heart.”
What possible advantages to studying are there to participating in a project such as this? What about the disadvantages?
“ A speksi can take up an enormous amount of time depending on the job description. Especially in the weeks prior to the show the actors and dancers have their calendars full of rehearsals, the costumiers and set designers pull all-nighters and the producers wrestle with the budget. During the performance week only a few make it to any lectures.
Personally I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Taking everything under consideration, I feel that the speksi taught me valuable lessons that are beneficial to my subject and career plans. I’m interested in cultural production and constructing a speksi production taught me more than any work orientation course ever could have. Students are often lured into unpaid assistant jobs in festivals and conventions in exchange for credits and “valuable work experience”. Working on a speksi didn’t grand me any credits, but it did give me the chance to do professional producing work and allowed me to carry out my own vision. In my opinion that is more valuable and useful work experience then selling tickets at a festival.”
Niina Nyberg, a member of the speksi dance group tells a little bit about her experience in the production.
What inspired you to take part in the speksi production? “To be honest, I didn’t know there was such a thing as speksi until a friend of mine introduced me to the concept last year. Since I love performing, my friend suggested that I give it a go. And I did!”
Did you have any prior experience in theater performance?
“I do have quite a lot of experience in theatre. I went to Kallion lukio and then I went on to do a Bachelor’s degree in musical theatre in the UK, where I also worked for a few years. So the stage is a comfortable place for me but there are a lot of people without any prior experience. I don’t really think prior experience is necessary, all you need is the passion for the production and we all work together to make it happen, whether it is performing, designing or devising the script that you want to do.”
What did you find challenging?
“The schedule is tough, especially the two months leading to the performance week. We were rehearsing pretty much every day until 9 – 10 pm. It took some juggling to be able to handle the rehearsals and the course work successfully. It was worth it though.”
What was the best part of the experience?
“I'd say the best part was meeting all the great people that took part in the making of the production. When you spend lots of time with the same group of people, you kind of develop a close-knit community. Eventually, all the people that were complete strangers in the beginning became good friends of mine; and now that the production is finished I really miss them. And of course I enjoyed the performance side of it. The dedication and the mutual effort that everyone put in were incredible and it was great to see all the hard work come together in the end.”
