Helsingin Sanomat 18.3.2010 – Lauri Meri

It’s slippery on the deck of a whaling ship

Moby Dick. The Spymonkey theatre group is visiting the Espoo City Theatre. Directed by Jos Houbsen. Performed by Aitor Bassauri, Toby Bark, Stephan Kreiss and Petra Massey.

The Espoo City Theatre presents a foreign comedy that gives you another chance to laugh until your jaw hurts.

This British four-person international theatre group puts a permanent smile on your face. The only thing saving you from smiling so much you get a face cramp are the jaw-dropping surprise elements. There are a few frights in store as well.

We've seen plenty of wordless theatre in Espoo earlier but this time there is no shortage for words.

At places, the actors' speech is so heavily accented and incoherent that eyes move quickly to the subtitles projected near the ceiling.

And surprisingly, there you can find yet another level of humour in the creative translation of Aila Herronen and Tanja Oreto with its Finnish puns and song lyric adaptations.

Mime, however, plays the main part in this co-operative effort, which premiered in last September in Northampton and is based on Herman Melville's Moby Dick or the Whale.

The plot and philosophical content of the book, the open play with audience and the pure pleasure of acting are well-balanced in this chaotically sparkling show.

All of the actors are very individual personas but years of co-operation is evident in the coherency of the group especially when we are lead to believe that the show is stripped down to its core.