E. L. Karhu’s Princess Hamlet (Prinsessa Hamlet) may have been officially dubbed a “comic strip tragedy”, but its predecessor, Breadline Ballad (Leipäjonoballadi), has a very similar feel about it too. Episodic in style, the play comprises a series of scenes that serve as stand-alone studies on poverty and our social attitudes towards it.
Breadline Ballad sets about addressing a whole gamut of emotions and experiences associated with deprivation. Shame, despair, social exclusion and hunger are shown insinuating their way into food bank queues, into the everyday realities of poor families’ lives and even into traditional Finnish proverbs.
The playwright’s approach is ironic, and she possesses a strong feel for the absurd. Take, for example, the doctor she has eyeballing people in the food bank queue to assess them for malnutrition. The setup is so ridiculous you can’t help but laugh. Which is perhaps the only possible response to the entirely risible fact that poverty still exists in a country as prosperous as Finland.
“Breadline ballad [...] gives the director and cast almost limitless freedom for stylistic and linguistic experimentation. Pöyhönen’s script also issues a challenge to the audience, inviting them to engage and get involved. Every contemporary phenomenon the play references is treated with a humorous touch that succeeds at keeping things at a necessary, much-needed distance whilst also bringing them up close and making them personal.”
Maria Säkö, in magazine Teatteri 7/2008
“Nun kann man [E.L. Karhus] Stück zum ersten Mal auf Deutsch erleben; es ist eine vielstimmige Ballade des Ãœberlebens, die in ihrer Lakonie erinnert an Kaurismäkis Filme, in ihrer Absonderlichkeit an Sorokins Roman "Die Schlange" und hat doch einen ganz eigenen, kristallklaren Ton. Und:E. L. Karhu hat eine Wut.
Davon erzählt schon der deutsche Titel. Durch das Stück schwebt die Figur des Franziskus von Assisi, die ein mittelloses Leben empfiehlt, denn Gott der Herr ernähre alle seine Geschöpfe, man müsse sich nur die Vögel angucken. Das ist einer der Momente, an denen Karhu ganz hart und zynisch wird, aber es immer noch schafft, ihre Bitterkeit hinter situativer Komik zu verbergen. Fast zumindest.”
Egbert Tholl, in Süddeutsche Zeitung, 12 December 2018
“I’d been on the look-out for an experimental play that was inventive in terms of its language and structure and also carried a political message. This play is connected to a specific moment in time and explores how the society we live in shapes us as individuals. I was also drawn to E.L. Karhu’s idiosyncratic language. It has a humorous quality to it that belies the seriousness of the subject matter.”
Barbara Kastner, Dramaturge
“Emilia Pöyhönen écrit une pièce drôle, émouvante et radicale sur la pauvreté, une pièce qui questionne la pauvreté d’esprit autant que la pauvreté matérielle. Le pouvoir d’achat est-il le seul projet citoyen qui nous rassemble? L’objectif ultime de notre vie est-il de consommer le plus possible? La position est bien sûr difficilement défendable, mais lorsqu’on est en train de frayer sa place dans la queue de la soupe populaire ça devient un tout petit peu plus difficile.”
La Metonymie, compagnie de théâtre
