Last Saturday afternoon my mother and I saw Oliver! in the concrete construction that is Lahti City Theatre. I had bought the tickets in November to cheer her up, but this was the first possible show for us.

The roles of Fagin and Widow Corney were played by Helsinki actors well-known also for their TV performances: Erkki Saarela and Sinikka Sokka. The boy who played Oliver was cute and played well enough. Staging was technically astonishing after last year's renovations, and pleasantly Victorian. The music definitely belongs among the best in musicals (unlike for instance Les Misérables which bored me almost to death). So I'm not dissatisfied, although the performance felt like uninspired routine.

At least from the cheering up point of view it was a success. Mother is already planning for our next theatrical visit, possibly Viisas neitsyt ('Wise Virgin'), a comedy by Maiju Lassila.