Last Call (2013)
Last Call is a tragicomedy about the curses of alcohol. A Presenter is hosting the World Championships in getting pissed with the charisma of a circus ringmaster, while encouraging the audience to do their bit in raising the atmosphere into a competitive drinking frenzy. The stage is also given to an expert in the field of boozing; whose praise-speech about the holy spirit includes its unifying force within society, tax revenue and how giving up booze actually is a sign of weakness.
A proper nation drinks – or does it? The Finnish representative in the Finals has been training hard with the bitter help of his coach-father but Juha reveals us that he has been sober for a year. The play asks whether indeed alcohol is the drink of the wise.
Excerpt
PUNDIT
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. On my behalf I welcome
you to the annual World Championship of Boozing. This
competition always causes heated debate in the media, and this
year is no different. So, let’s get straight to the word on the
street, the question that’s on everyone’s mind. This issue that
has been played out in the tabloids and had chunks ripped out of
it by the politicians in Question Time in the House of Commons.
Is this kind of competition right? Where are our morals? Doesn’t
this great nation have its fare share of pointless and idiotic
competitions as it is? Isn’t this giving our impressionable youth
a bad example? Isn’t this downplaying the issue of alcoholism?
Well, if I were to sum it up in a word: No.
Our very own contestant Pete drinks because he wants to drink.
He is an adult after all. And Pete is very good at what he does,
very good indeed. Pete doesn´t compete only for selfish reasons,
for fame or fortune. No. He is representing us all. And surely
every one of you, from the safety of the living room sofas, want
to see people hit the rock bottom – humiliating themselves in
Celebrity Big Brother or Dancing With the Stars in too-tight
spandex. You want it all.
Press clips
Although the misuse of alcohol is a painful reality and a familiar subject, it hasn't been mulled over enough. The question is still relevant; what makes hundreds of thousands of Finns repeatedly wobble around in a drunken stupor. Or even in a milder state for that matter.
- Veli-Pekka Leppänen, Helsingin Sanomat 28.1.2012
The writing goes beyond mere comedy. References to Jungian depth psychology and concepts of the sacred, are used with an intelligent irony. Nietche's Dionysian sermon advances in a similar style.
- Pauli Vesakas, Savon Sanomat 27.9.2011
