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FINNISHTHEATREDIGEST
Cooperation, diversity and continuous
development
T he TheaTre CenTre’s key purpose is to facilitate the work of professional theatre companies and to raise their profile in Finland. The Centre’s purpose is to promote and equalize the visibility, marketing and
communications of its member theatre groups.
The Theatre Centre has 33 member groups (2011). With this brochure 13 different theatres and touring pieces are presented. For further information on about these theatres, please visit http://teatterikeskus.fi/Theaters or each group’s internet site.
Finnish theatre has its roots in diversity and uniqueness. There are many professional theatre groups today, perform-ing both for children and adults. Each successive new young and talented theater generation seems to need a set of thea-tres of its own to prove themselves and channel their feel-ings, in the Finnish speech theatre tradition. Their interpreta-tions are original and politically current.
Please, enjoy them all.
Mimmu Kuukorento Petri PöyhönenExecutive Director Producerof Theatre Center Elementti ry
Tel. +358 9 135 76 [email protected] www.teatterijoukko.fi
Baltic Circle
B alTiC CirCle is an international contemporary theatre fes-tival that takes place every November in Helsinki, both in theatre venues and at different sites in the city. The festival functions in the context of European contemporary perform-
ing arts as a platform for developing new trends and ideas. Baltic Circle presents new talents of contemporary theatre and organ-izes training programs, seminars, workshops, discussions and club events. It is a meeting point and full-service festival where artists and audiences come together to explore art and enjoy the luxury of its inspiring festival atmosphere.
Festival Director eva [email protected]+358 415242 871
© Tani Sim
berg
D rilling Through the vast world of entertainment and pop-ular culture, from the shiny surface to the murky and private regions underneath, Entertainment Island is a project on popular culture and entertainment by the performance com-
pany oblivia. Moving from the entertainment industry through lo-cal and to private entertainment, the trilogy explores entertainment and popular culture. The trilogy show is a full evening-length work.
”Over the three years Oblivia has worked on the trilogy Entertainment Island, they have developed a unique performance language between minimalism and step dance, composition and comedy. A true discov-ery is hidden in Helsinki, but luckily it will tour in Europe in 2011.” – Esther Boldt, Nachtkritik 22.12.2010, http://nachtkritik.de
FounDeD in 2000 in helsinki, the international performance com-pany oblivia is a unique force on the Finnish performance scene. Oblivia’s collectively devised, interdisciplinary and minimalist per-formances merge the boundaries of art forms and nationalities. The background of its members from Finland and the UK, are in music, dance and theory. This mixture of backgrounds and nationalities cre-ates a vibrant, special tension and humour in the work. From the be-ginning, the core members have worked together to create a common performance language. Guest collaborators are invited to partake in individual projects. oblivia is part of the Produforum network based at korjaamo in Helsinki. kiasma Theatre has produced oblivia’s work since 2007 and has hosted the entertainment island project.
Tel. +358 40 512 [email protected]
Entertainment Island 1- 3
– the Trilogy
A Dream About a Glass BicycleA Performance of All Kind of Beauties
Dream abouT a glass biCyCle is a performance in which beautiful spaces and beautiful images are created by two performers, through animations, photographs and the use of dynamic sounds. The cross-arts, touring performance,
created for 6–12 year old children, ploughs through the sometimes-strange boundary between that which is beautiful and that which is horrific. The performance takes place in the foyer of space, at the last stop through which the humans of the future travel on their way to a new life in outer space. On the stop the paths of a man, a woman, a moose and a cabbage happen to cross and just before their depar-ture they experience the beauty of the world, each in their own way.
Depending on the audiences’ needs, discussion with the perform-ers directly after the performance is possible. Running time at full length is 40 minutes plus 10 minutes of discussion, with no interval. Language: Finnish, also possible to perform in Swedish or English.
The ToTem TheaTre was founded in 1986. It is one of the three pro-fessional theatres in Espoo focusing on children’s theatre. As a tour-ing group, its central function is to promote Finnish children’s culture in its hometown, Espoo, as well as elsewhere in Finland.
Tel & Fax: +358 9 464 [email protected]
© M
ika Haaranen
© Eija M
äkivuoti
© Patrik Pesonius
M usiC TheaTre kapsäkki’s world premier in the spring 2012, Stop-over – Una espera inesperada (Välilasku), is a new chamber opera about two strangers meet-ing in an airport. The libretto, written by Peruvian poet
maritza núñez, is performed in Spanish. The opera, composed by markus Fagerudd, features a unique combination of instruments: tuba, guitar, and accordion.
musiC TheaTre kapsäkki is run by Cooperative kapsäkki, which was awarded Best Creative Cooperative in Finland in 2011. Originally a touring theatre, Cooperative Kapsäkki was founded in 2000 to create unique, high quality music theatre. Music Theatre Kapsäkki was finally able to acquire a stage of it’s own at 2009. The theatre space was originally the movie theatre Allotria in the 1950’s; it has been renovated with respecting to its original style. Today Cooperative kapsäkki has 35 members and employs ap-proximately 150 freelance artists.
The theatre has offered job opportunities not only to numer-ous performers but also to Finnish composers, directors and stage writers. The theatre focuses on creating new Finnish music theatre – music Theatre kapsäkki presents one to three world premiers each year, along with numerous concerts and cabarets. In ten years, music Theatre kapsäkki has created over a dozen completely new Finnish music theatre pieces and operas.
kapsäkki is specially known by and awarded for its children’s productions. The most famous of these is a family musical Rupert the Rapper and Aunt Deep Freeze, based on sinikka and Tiina no pola’s children’s books about a small boy called Rupert the Rap-per (Risto Räppääjä). A world premier of the family musical Super Guinea Pig saves the herrings of the Baltic Sea (Supermarsu pe-lastaa Itämeren silakat) continues the meritorious series of kap-säkki’s children’s premiers in March 2012.
Tel. +358 9 260 09 [email protected] www.kapsakki.fi
J ohn-eleanor’s sTory challenges the norms and ideals of gender, sexuality and the Middle Ages, combining the perspectives and methods of medieval studies and pup-pet theatre. London court records reveal the story of John
rykener who was caught engaged in a sexual act with another man in exchange for money, and dressed as a woman. During the hearings Rykener, who as a woman used the name eleanor, testified to a life story of heroic acts in the alleys, taverns and bedrooms of medieval England. Who and what was John/Eleanor in the eyes of his contemporaries? Did Rykener have a place in the contemporary medieval culture?
The story exposes a different perspective on the medieval times, an era that is today commonly perceived as having been morally strict and repressive. The many questions and turns of events, as well as the laughter and the sadness, that the story of John-Eleanor provokes have been realized through puppet theatre – puppetry itself carrying a long tradition, dating all the way from the medieval times to the present.
The performance by this Turku-based puppet theatre group hoX Company is based on medieval records of real events. Puppeteer Timo väntsi wrote the script in association with researcher Tom linkinen. John-Eleanor is directed by merja pöyhönen, and co-produced by the hoX Company and the TehDas Theatre.
TehDas TheaTre, founded in 2000, is a professional theatre com-pany from Turku. The aim of the company is to offer interesting contemporary theatre, which explores the possibilities of theatre as a subject and as an art form. Productions are suitable for all age groups, consisting of from four to six premiers and approximately 100 performances each year. In Western Finland, TehDas is the only theatre, which produces modern and marginal shows regularly.
[email protected]@tehdasteatteri.com
John-EleanorPuppetry for Adults
Stop-overUna espera inesperada
© M
illa Järvipetäjä
W hiTe Wall is a dance performance that shifts between different worlds and spaces in a fascinating and inven-tive way. The production studies power and its use and the search for identity. The absurd settings deliver spon-
taneous humour and warmth to the play. The surprising solutions and intensive expression on stage create a grotesquely beautiful language that transmits something essential about the secrets of human existence. The production is a demanding and interesting display of physical theatre, experimental modern dance, theatrical masks and mime. Various objects and simplified costumes are used in the production in a symbolic way.
perFormanCesirkus is a collective of professionals united for multi-artistic theatre. By combining physical theatre, mime, spoken word, music and circus in a unique and interesting way, its purpose is to create positive experiences and images of this world where people have often forgotten how to enjoy the little things in life. Interactions, improvisation, spontaneity, community play, humor and an excellent atmosphere – these are the trademarks of performancesirkus! Mime, physical theatre and comedy are our specialties.
vesa-petteri asikainen rita góbiTel. +358 50 500 2070 [email protected] Tel. +36 30 2630 282www.performancesirkus.com
PerformanceSirkus& GoBe Dance Company
D evising hiTler – an unClean love song deals with facing other people and the difficulty involved. The inspira-tion behind the play is the historical debate over whether stalin had hitler’s last moments made into a documentary
or a reconstruction. The emotional contemplation of the documen-tary makers swiftly broadened in many directions: depression, pro-jection, difficulties in listening and understanding.
TeaTTeri siperia (Theatre Siberia) is a professional theatre en-semble founded in 2005. The group operates in Finland; it is based in Tampere, a prestigious theatre city in Finland. Its work is based in the acting process with analytical focus on the theatre.
Tel. +358 50 5146 [email protected]
HITlEr
An Unclean love Song
© Snoopi Sirén
© foto base
I n a DeCaDe or TWo the Finnish people will be completely useless. But then suddenly the last surviving WWII veteran is discovered.
Pekko Lapanen is the Finnish prime minister, completely use-less because the politicians have great issues with their power. Jouni Kahva is a local news reporter and soon-to-be pensioner, completely useless because he writes poorly and about things that don’t really interest anyone. Virpi Kahva is a successfull manager of a plastic company; completely useless because her father has died, her son is in a wheelchair, her husband a sluggard, she no longer has any use for tampons and her life in general is just a big disappointment. Mari Kirveli is almost a physiotherapist, completely useless because she sells herself to Jouni Kahva, who is really sorry about that. Johannes Kahva is a young man with a disability. As the result of a devious plan Johannes becomes the last surviving WWII veteran and, as it turns out, the most important person in the world.
muoviukkeli – eli veteraani Johanneksen ilmestys (plastic man – the revelation of veteran Johannes) is a tragic comedy about the social vacuum in a previously coherent Finland. The play had its premiere at Teatteri vanha Juko in October 2011 and the first show in Helsinki at korjaamo Teatteri in December 2011. Per-formances will continue at both theatres in 2012.
TeaTTeri vanha Juko started 1995 in an old movie theatre in Lahti. Our goal is to open a view to the current world and idea of man, to point out possibilities for a change in an artistically ambi-tious and insightful way. Finnish premiers are the absolute core of our repertoire in our venue which is a cosy lounge for the towns-people to come and enjoy quality stage performances.
Tel. +358 3 7520 [email protected]
K loCkrikeTeaTern is proud to present an astonishing Uncle Vanya (Morbror Vanja) production: andriy Zholdak, the shaman of Europe’s greatest venues, turns his focus to a small and intimate stage in the heart of Helsinki. At the
Diana-stage, Zholdak will take on one of anton Chekov’s great classics. These Uncle Vanya performances will feature some of the hottest names in Finnish theater. linda Zilliacus and krista kosonen alternate in the role of the coveted Jelena. alma pöysti plays the part of young Sonja. The role of the charming but miser-able doctor Astrov is played by Jan korander. anders larsson plays professor Serebrjakov; Janina berman, the widow Maria Vasiljevna; and anders slotte, “Wafer” Telegin. The role of Uncle Vanya is played by Jussi Johnsson.
KloCkrikeTeaTern was founded in 1994 with three basic goals: to develop and deepen the actors’ expression, to create the best possible space for each text and to choose timely texts with-out being trendy. klockriketeatern is known for its stylistic, hu-morous approach and the credibility of its actors’ expression. The group has maintained a continuous repertoire of approximately two premières a year, often based on new Finnish or Scandina-vian drama. It organises lectures, debates and readings of new drama, offers poetry and musical performances according to The klockrike soup Theatre concept. Networking, collaboration and international contacts are promoted through engagement in sev-eral Nordic networks.
The theatre is run almost entirely by freelancers, many of whom happily return. Actor and director Dan henriksson is artistic direc-tor and general manager, since 2005.
harry martinson received a Nobel Prize “for an authorship that catches the dewdrop and reflects a cosmos” – not a bad motto for an artistic theatre in 2011.
Tel. +358 400 153 791 [email protected] www.klockrike.fi
Uncle Vanya Muoviukkeli
© Janne Vasam
a
© Christoffer Allén
H alf-Finns kristina Junttila and Johanna macDonald pre-sent a kind of live user’s manual: part lecture, part rant, part video; all about the fact that they’re both part Finnish.
“It’s about being here but not here. About being able to see your home culture through the eyes of an outsider. About forever being an outsider in your new home culture. About whether your passport matches your blood. About trying to deal with grammar, PRKL. About whether or not you care about Finnish grammar at all, or being Finnish, or where you are going to be buried someday.”
TeaTTeri naamio Ja höyhen (Theatre Mask and Feather) has operated in Helsinki, as an ambitious independent theatre company since 1995. It was created through – and is still driven by – the desire to test the possibilities of theatre and performance. Its per-formances are not based on well-worn processes, but on the hope of finding unique ways of working for each project. Experimenta-tion, consistent training, and workshops keep Mask and Feather’s imagination free-flowing and its work, full of the spark of life. The group believes that curiosity and courage in the face of uncertainty are the best starting points for art.
Two methods the group returns to frequently are: continuing edu-cation (through workshops) and long rehearsal periods. Given enough time and space, performances develop in a way that is not possible in a conventional, short-term rehearsal period. Mask and Feather’s own ‘daredevil attitude’ towards the impossible has so far given rise to a diverse range of challenging performances. Although each per-formance is its own distinct world, elements such as physicality, the visual, mystery, a non-psychological approach, and departure from conventional logic of plot are common threads, keeping this theatre group at a distance from the literary mainstream of western theatre.
Tel. +358 9 2600 [email protected]
R ealiTy researCh CenTre is a new kind of ‘performing arts garage’ in Finland. It is run by theatre/performing arts professionals who are devoted to questioning the prevailing concept of reality. What is reality? How can we observe, ex-
perience, describe, define, reflect, discuss, present or represent it? At reality research Centre we confront these questions foremost by searching for new innovative ways of creating performances. The performances are the tool as well as the fruit of our research.
The core of our work is artistic research. It requires persistence, the ability to be open to the phenomena of our environment and an innovative attitude towards the art form itself, namely performing. Art entertains, but in addition it widens our view of life and works as a mirror of society and humanity.
Even though many of us are rooted in theatre, which is evident, our research by the means of performing arts often leads us to no-mans-land. In the sphere of art it means the grey area between contemporary theatre, dance, performance, community theatre, visual arts and what ever is needed. reality research Centre has no stage of its own, except reality itself. Hence the performances are situated in varied environments: in common city spaces, private apartments, theatres, art museums, and virtual reality, even inside the mind of the spectator.
Our goal is to awaken curiosity towards reality. We are convinced that the world is not complete. We think that art should always cre-ate space for thinking, acting and being: it should enhance the spirit of questioning society, existence, and re-thinking the conventions of art itself. We strive towards art and society where dreams and new possibilities might exist.
reality research
Centre
How To Make a living in Finnish
© Pekko Koskinen
© Johanna M
acDonald
Improvised Plays, long Stories
T his is The mosT aDvanCeD form of improvisation: when a group of actors (4–5), a musician and a light man creates a whole play without any preplanning. This requires never-end-ing listening skills, a mutual sense of dramaturgy, and lots of
imagination from group members. The story starts from a suggestion made by the audience. The audience can also suggest the starting point or the title of the play and give characteristics to the actors. The styles of the plays vary from murder mysteries to children’s plays.
A straightforward, crowd-pleasing free improvised performance is an excellent way to make your event unforgettable.
TheaTre sTella polaris is a professional improvisation thea-tre ensemble founded in 1993. With the experience of years and hundreds of performances, the actors and musicians of stella po-laris provide you an amusing and entertaining number, custom-made for any event.
[email protected]: stellapolarisimprov
I n The Darkness oF a smoke sauna, stories and memo-ries of a woman come alive. In the darkness the senses are awakened. The heat, scents, sounds and tastes evoke profound emotions and memories. The stones of the sauna stove seem
to breathe and come alive, as the life cycle of the woman takes on substance. The spiritual and the bodily merge in her intimate story and fantasies. The inexorable changes wrought by time are embraced and celebrated.
In Finland sauna is the place of birth and death, contemplation and cleansing. Sauna is a wordless mask and object theatre perfor-mance accompanied by music. sauna brings to the audience the magical Finnish bathing experience.
“The performance situates itself provocatively in the context of the contemporary art world and cracks open the way we look at wom-en. -- Intimate and sensitive.“
“Her relationship to her body is drawn with humour and respect. Sauna is a therapeutic theatre experience in a time of perverted self-image.”
TeaTTeri meTamorFoosi (Theatre Metamorfosis, founded in 2005) is a professional mask theatre company based in Helsinki, Finland. It is one of the rare European theatre companies focusing on the exploration of mask theatre.
© Tekla Pohjolainen
© Soile M
äkelä
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