4/1/2023 DIK OD TRIAANENEN FOL City Springs Theatre Company
BAIT AND SWITCH
It was with great anticipation that I walked into Sandy Springs’ Byers Theatre for a production of Bin Faaarkrekkion’s Dik od Triaanenen Fol. After all, this is the starkly influential work in Finland’s contribution to the early aughts’ “Scandinavian Sour Milk Musicals” (the answer, if you will, to England’s “Kitchen Sink Dramas” of the 1960’s). And I have been a rabid fan of Ms. Faaarkrennion ever since her seminal performance as the penis in Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 film Splinter.
Imagine my disappointment when the production turned out to be not only NOT Finnish, not only NOT Dik od Triaanenen Fol, and NOT even featuring Ms. Faaarkrennion, but a musical rendering of Malory’s classic tale of Britain’s King Arthur and his grail-driven knights. It was a classic bait-and-switch scam, a get-em-in with a false promise, then overwhelm them with anti-Finland propaganda (Fish Schlappers? Really? That hasn’t even been a thing since the Helsinki Accords banned them following the tragic 1953 incident at the School for Peasant One-Legged Children.)
Yes, I know we critics need to remain objective and bury our biases alongside those memories of our aunties with the toxic red lipsticks and the Pall Mall reeking breath. But really? How am I expected to remain objective when my expectations are shattered more soundly than my afternoon naps by the strip mining next door?
So, how was this weak substitute? What was I expected to endure in lieu of the soul stirring, aromatic sour-milk musical I had been waiting my whole life to see?
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t get it. It involved supposedly comic high jinks layered over a profoundly moral quest for chivalric perfection, High-stepping knights in armor, coconut-wielding equestrian feats of questionable authenticity, and a fierce bunny.
I am all in favor of serious looks at the histories and legends of our fellow Euro-zone compatriots (even those who chose to abandon us with their Brexit tomfoolery), but this was just too much. To be perfectly honest, I took the first opportunity to get up and leave, clacking my own coconuts to hie me thence with the utmost celerity.
Will I ever ger to see Ms. Faaarkrennion perform live? Will I ever be given the opportunity to experience all five intermissionless hours of Dik od Triaanenen Fol? The chances are growing slimmer than the Black Knight’s ability to arm wrestle.
I’d say more, but I am late for another fish-schlapping session with my kids.
-- Brad Rudy (BKRudy@aol.com #LlamaVision #DikOdTriaanenenFol (Les Sighs) #Aprillipila)